After finishing P13 in MotoGP™ FP2 at the Tissot Grand Prix of Doha, it looks like Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) will be scrapping in Q1 for the second weekend in a row this year. Speaking after Friday’s disappointment, the reigning World Champion explained why he was down in the pecking order.
“My feeling is good but we completely miss the strategy,” admitted the Spaniard, who has another chance to try and improve in FP3 but, as we’ve seen previously, the conditions aren’t going to allow the riders to go quicker.
“In FP2, when we put the tyres that were not preheated, I only had one lap, I wasn't able to make the second one. We ran out of time. So we missed the strategy and we cannot miss it. We don't have the package to be easily in Q2, and if we miss something then we are out. We miss Q2 by less one tenth probably, and I'm sure that in the second lap I could improve my lap time but I ran out of time.”
Mir goes onto explain how it’s clear he won’t be able to improve his best time in FP3, and knows it’s going to be very hard to finish P1 or P2 in Q1 to head into the pole position shootout.
“Honestly, if we didn't find a big solution to improve the fast lap now, now, we will not improve it tomorrow, this is clear. Of course we have margin to improve because I couldn't make one lap with the good tyres, because the other one was preheated. So the margin that I have is that one. I don't know what I will be able to do with this package. It will be hard to go through Q2, but if not we will have to take risks always in the first laps of the race.”
???????? @jackmilleraus fastest after a mini-qualifying session closes out FP2!@mvkoficial12 rescues a top ten spot on his last lap but @JoanMirOfficial misses out again! ????#DohaGP ???? pic.twitter.com/zM25BXlq9M
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) April 2, 2021
The number 36 goes on to further clarify what went wrong with the strategy at the end of FP2: “On these days we have to use the preheated tyres from the other Grand Prix, and this is something, the tyre doesn't perform in the same way as a brand new one. Everyone knows this, and we just wait for the good one for the last and that's it.
“And for some reason, they showed me "box" to change the tyre and I came in, but then I didn't have time. I cannot control the time, I just watch the board. Inside the team we didn't make the correct strategy today and I'm not happy, because it's really difficult to make good lap times with the package that we have at the moment, and every detail here counts a lot.”
FP3 for Mir and his rivals is coming up at 15:15 local time (GMT+3) on Saturday, before qualifying begins under the lights at 20:00 local time. Can Mir make it out of Q1?