Author: David Bodapati

The year 2020 has been a difficult year, not just for sport, but in every sphere, for every country, and for every sport and MotoGP is not an exception. But like Formula 1, MotoGP too put together a season and had successfully completed the year conducting the races in a bio-bubble.

And beating all odds, it is one man who conquered all the glory. The 23-year old Joan Mir!

“A string of solid results culminated in a superb win at the European GP in Valencia and just one week later, at the same circuit, Joan took his first MotoGP crown in style. Becoming Suzuki’s first champion for 20 years.”

Born on 1st September, 1997, Joan Mir Mayrata (Palma de Mallorca, 1997) has not had the archetypal career path into MotoGP. In fact, his beginnings in motorcycling came much later than that of his rivals in the road racing championships. His first motorcycle was a Polini when he was 6-years old, until he received a small Honda QR as a gift one year later. But unusually, his family didn’t have an excessive fervour for bikes – everyone around him was more into off-road riding than on track, and most were enthusiastic about other sports. His father Joan, in fact, owns a skating shop in Mallorca, so little Joan grew up surrounded by skateboard decks.

It was not until he saw his cousin Joan Perelló, who was in the Stop & Go team in the World Championship, that he became fascinated with speed. An admirer of his countryman Rafael Nadal, Joan admitted in an interview that “like Rossi, I do not look-up to anyone”. And yet, paradoxically, his first experience of racing at the track arrived at Chicho Lorenzo’s school, where he remained for a year. From there, he moved to the Balearic Motorcycling Federation’s school in 2009. There someone discovered that Joan had more to offer than just his enthusiastic smile. It’s also where he met Daniel Vadillo, who advises him and has accompanied him to each race since then. “We saw that he had something different,” said Dani.

EARLY VICTORIES

He then started the adventure of the Bankia Cup in the XL 160 category, in 2011. The Mallorcan won the crown with two races left before the championship came to a permanent close. Then came the MotoGP Pre-GP 125 Cup, the next step in the arduous climb to the World Championship, and Joan did not hold back, securing another title. In 2012, Joan headed to the Red Bull Rookies Cup where he completed two seasons; 2013- 2014. During the first year of adaptation, the Balearic rider finished 9th in the general standings while in the second year he finished runner-up after a very close battle with Spaniard Jorge Martín.

FIGHTING FOR AN OPPORTUNITY

A somewhat turbulent 2015 arrived, in which some challenging circumstances arose. Joan, already prepared to start his career in the FIM CEV Championship, was left out because the Leopard Racing team cancelled the project at the last moment. Joan and his entourage got in touch with rider manager Paco Sánchez, and he helped the youngster to complete the CEV championship with a Ioda bike in the Team Machado but finally supported by Leopard Racing team. Then, just as the season was reaching its end and Joan was on vacation, he received a call from Leopard Racing team again, they wanted him to replace Japan’s Hiroki Ono, injured, at the Australian Grand Prix. A wild card appearance that was worth its weight in gold. After a low key debut Joan, who was 15th on the grid at Phillip Island, got a rocket start and placed himself in the lead group, but crashed out whilst in 4th. He had nevertheless left his mark. Leopard recognised his achievement and recruited him for the 2016 season.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SPOT AND TITLE

And so it was that the World Championship officially welcomed Joan Mir in 2016. And he quickly proved his worth; in Austria Joan surprised everyone with a superb race that gave him his first victory and his debut podium in the category. He finished the championship in fifth position, as Rookie of the Year, after getting three podiums, one pole, and two fastest laps. It turned out to be the perfect warm up for the 2017 season – 10 wins, 13 podiums, and a dominant title campaign. His strength and talent were clear and the Mallorcan won the Moto3 crown. An ideal way to graduate to Moto2…

MOTO 2

He entered Moto2 with Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS. Adapting quickly, Joan seemed competitive from the beginning and onlookers sensed a podium was coming. He did indeed secure his first Moto2 podium in France, and soon after in Italy. However, his promising start fizzled out a little for various reasons. All in all, Joan finished the season in 6th position and was awarded as Rookie of the Year just one day before testing in Valencia – his first experience riding the GSXRR with the Team SUZUKI ECSTAR.

MOTOGP CLIMB

Joan’s debut season in MotoGP in 2019 saw him adapting quickly to the Suzuki way of working, and he said his introduction to the team was like “finding a second family”. At his first race, in Qatar, he achieved a great 8th place. He went on to score a further nine Top 10 finishes, despite a debilitating mid-season injury which saw him miss two rounds. Joan returned to secure his best result, an impressive 5th place, in Thailand, he then backed this up with two further 5th place finishes in the last two races of the season in Malaysia and Spain. He completed his rookie season 12th in the Championship standings. With his focus on adjusting his riding style to better suit the GSX-RR’s own strengths, the youngster was ambitious and aiming high for the 2020 season.

100 YEARS CHAMPION

In a unique and strange season deeply marked by the threat of Covid-19, Team Suzuki Ecstar and Joan Mir kept their focus on racing. 2020 also marked Suzuki’s 100th anniversary and 60 years in competition. Despite the season getting off to a tricky start with a couple of DNFs, Joan bounced back quickly and continued to learn the traits of his GSX-RR with maturity and determination. A 2nd place finish at the fourth round in Austria set the tone for the remainder of the season, and before long the young rider from Mallorca found himself in title contention. A string of solid results culminated in a superb win at the European GP in Valencia and just one week later, at the same circuit, Joan took his first MotoGP crown in style. Becoming Suzuki’s first champion for 20 years.