Joan Mir Mayrata (Catalan: [ʒu'an mir məj'ratə], born 1 September 1997) is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racer riding for the Repsol Honda Team in the MotoGP World Championship. Mir is best known for winning the 2020 MotoGP World Championship with Suzuki.[1] He is the fourth Spanish rider to win the premier class title after Àlex Crivillé, Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Márquez, and the second Mallorcan after Lorenzo. Mir also won the 2017 Moto3 World Championship title with Leopard Racing.[2]

Joan Mir
Mir in 2023
NationalitySpanish
Born (1997-09-01) 1 September 1997 (age 27)
Palma, Spain
Current teamRepsol Honda Team
Bike number36
Motorcycle racing career statistics
MotoGP World Championship
Active years2019
ManufacturersSuzuki (20192022)
Honda (2023–)
Championships1 (2020)
2023 championship position22nd (26 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
98 1 13 0 1 605
Moto2 World Championship
Active years2018
ManufacturersKalex
Championships0
2018 championship position6th (155 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
18 0 4 0 1 155
Moto3 World Championship
Active years20152017
ManufacturersHonda (2015, 2017)
KTM (2016)
Championships1 (2017)
2017 championship position1st (341 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
37 11 16 2 5 485

He became the first Suzuki rider to win the title since Kenny Roberts Jr. in 2000, the first non-Honda or non-Yamaha rider to win the title since Ducati rider Casey Stoner in 2007, as well as the first Moto3 world champion to win the premier class title.

Career

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Early career

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Palma-born Mir competed for two seasons in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup in 2013 and 2014, finishing with three wins and six podiums as runner-up to Jorge Martín in 2014. Mir contested the CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship in 2015. Mir won four of the first six races, but faded towards the end of the season, and ultimately finished fourth in the championship.

Moto3 World Championship

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Mir made his Grand Prix début in 2015 with Leopard Racing at Phillip Island replacing the injured Hiroki Ono. Mir started 18th on the grid but failed to finish the race after an incident with John McPhee.

In 2016 Mir competed full-time in the Moto3 World Championship with Leopard Racing, partnering Fabio Quartararo and Andrea Locatelli. He achieved his first Grand Prix pole position and victory in just his 11th start at the Austrian round. He achieved a further two podiums in San Marino and Valencia. Mir finished the championship in 5th position as rookie of the year, scoring 144 points.

 
Mir in 2017

He remained for a second season in 2017 with Leopard Racing and dominated the class, taking 10 wins and 13 podiums from 18 races, only failing to score points at the Japanese round. His only pole position start of the season came at the Malaysian round. He finished 93 points ahead of his nearest rival, Romano Fenati, to win the Moto3 championship.

Moto2 World Championship

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In 2018, Mir moved up to Moto2 with Marc VDS Racing Team, after signing a three-year deal with the team.[3] He finished 3rd in France and Italy, and finished 2nd in Germany and Australia, ending the season with four podiums and 155 points, 6th place in the rider's championship, and winning rookie of the year.[4]

MotoGP World Championship

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Team Suzuki Ecstar (2019–2022)

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2019
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Mir chasing Jorge Lorenzo at the 2019 Argentine Grand Prix

In mid 2018, it was announced that Mir would end his contract with Marc VDS two years prematurely, in order to move up to the premier class with the Suzuki factory team on a two-year deal to replace the outgoing Andrea Iannone.[5] He became just the second rider to be promoted to MotoGP after a lone season in Moto2, after Maverick Viñales. In his rookie season in 2019, he achieved consistent top-10 finishes but missed two rounds due to a pulmonary contusion suffered in a crash in testing at Brno. He was replaced by Suzuki test rider Sylvain Guintoli.[6] Mir achieved a season-best finish of 5th place in Australia. He finished the season with 92 points, 12th in the overall standings, and as the second best rookie, behind former Moto3 Leopard Racing teammate Fabio Quartararo.

2020
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Before the delayed start to the 2020 season, Suzuki announced that Mir had been signed for a further two years, ensuring his future with the team through at least 2022.[7] Mir had a rough start to the season, crashing out of two of the first three rounds. However, he quickly found his rhythm and became a consistent podium finisher, achieving a podium spot in five of the next seven rounds (three 2nd places in Austria, Emilia-Romagna and Catalunya, and two 3rd-place finishes in San Marino and Aragon). Inconsistent finishes from his title rivals such as 3-time race winner Quartararo and Maverick Viñales meant that after 10 of 14 rounds, Mir led the championship standings despite not having won a race until that point.[8]

During the tenth round of the 2020 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, at the 2020 French motorcycle Grand Prix, Mir lost his balance on entering a left turn during a practice session and slid on his side for about 50 metres before managing to use the momentum as he entered the gravel pit to seamlessly regain his footing and fluidly transfer his momentum into a running action.[9] In the race that followed, Mir finished 11th, scoring 5 points.

A further podium finish in Teruel and poor results from Quartararo, Viñales and Andrea Dovizioso saw Mir extend his championship advantage to 14 points over second-place Quartararo with three races remaining.[10] At the European Grand Prix, staged at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo near Valencia, Mir took his maiden win, beating his teammate Álex Rins, who finished in second place. With Quartararo falling early in the race and only able to salvage 2 points, Mir took a commanding 37-point lead over both his rivals with only 2 rounds remaining.[11][12] The following week at the Valencian Community Grand Prix at the same circuit, Mir finished in 7th place, while Rins managed only 4th and Quartararo crashed out, crowning Mir the 2020 MotoGP riders' champion.[13]

2021
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Mir at the 2021 Algarve Grand Prix

Mir started the 2021 season with back to back top ten performances in Qatar. Despite qualifying tenth during the first race and forgetting to engage his Suzuki's launch control at the start he managed to work his way up into second place on the last lap of the race before getting passed on the back straight by Ducati riders Johann Zarco and Francesco Bagnaia, leading to a 4th-place finish.[14] In the second race the following week Mir qualified in the middle of the field and finished 7th behind teammate Rins, but the race was most notable for Mir's confrontation with factory Ducati rider, Jack Miller. The confrontation started when Mir attempted an overtake in which he had to pick up his bike mid corner, nearly forcing Miller off the track. Miller later collided with Mir heading down the back straight, and after the race Mir was highly critical of Miller and argued that the Australian's actions were intentional.[15] Two weeks later in Portimao Mir started ninth and worked his way up to finish 3rd behind Fabio Quartararo and Bagnaia, earning Suzuki's first podium for the season. Mir achieved a 5th place at Jerez before a crash at Le Mans in wet conditions, and his second podium in 3rd place in Mugello. Catalunya saw Mir finish in 5th once again, but was promoted to 4th following Fabio Quartararo’s 5-second penalty for removing his chest protector and riding with his leathers open. Following a 9th place at Sachsenring, Mir finished 3rd in Assen, earning his third podium of the year, as the season went into the summer break. At the grid returned to race for the double round in Spielberg, Austria, Mir collected his fourth podium of the season with a 2nd-place finish behind rookie Ducati rider Jorge Martín, who took his maiden MotoGP victory. Mir would finish 3rd in Aragón, and replicated his best result of the season with a 2nd-place finish in Portimao, before closing off the year with a 4th-place finish in Valencia, the season ender race. He finished 3rd in the rider's championship with 208 points, 44 points behind Francesco Bagnaia in second, and 70 points behind World Champion Fabio Quartararo.

2022
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Mir missed a few rounds due to injuries sustained in Austria. Mir secured 4 consecutive top six finishes in the first four rounds but countless DNF’s and injuries in Austria hampered his season, finishing 15th with only 87 points.

Repsol Honda Team (from 2023)

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2023
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Following Suzuki's departure from MotoGP, Mir signed with Repsol Honda for the 2023 season. He partnered six-time premier class champion Marc Márquez.[16]

Career statistics

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Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup

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Races by year

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos Pts
2013 AME1
9
AME2
18
JER1
17
JER2
12
ASS1
10
ASS2
11
SAC1
11
SAC2
4
BRN
13
SIL1
5
SIL2
2
MIS
6
ARA1
4
ARA2
6
9th 107
2014 JER1
4
JER1
1
MUG
Ret
ASS1
5
ASS2
9
SAC1
2
SAC2
4
BRN1
5
BRN2
1
SIL1
2
SIL2
5
MIS
3
ARA1
1
ARA2
Ret
2nd 197

FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship

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Races by year

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts
2013 MIR Racing CAT1 CAT2 ARA ALB1 ALB2 NAV VAL1
26
VAL2
15
JER 40th 1
2015 Honda ALG
1
LMS
Ret
CAT1
Ret
CAT2
1
ARA1
1
ARA2
1
4th 153
Ioda Honda ALB
Ret
NAV
3
JER1
3
JER2
23
KTM VAL1
2
VAL2
15

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

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By season

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Season Class Motorcycle Team Race Win Podium Pole FLap Pts Plcd WCh
2015 Moto3 Honda Leopard Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2016 Moto3 KTM Leopard Racing 18 1 3 1 2 144 5th
2017 Moto3 Honda Leopard Racing 18 10 13 1 3 341 1st 1
2018 Moto2 Kalex EG 0,0 Marc VDS 18 0 4 0 1 155 6th
2019 MotoGP Suzuki Team Suzuki Ecstar 17 0 0 0 0 92 12th
2020 MotoGP Suzuki Team Suzuki Ecstar 14 1 7 0 0 171 1st 1
2021 MotoGP Suzuki Team Suzuki Ecstar 18 0 6 0 1 208 3rd
2022 MotoGP Suzuki Team Suzuki Ecstar 16 0 0 0 0 87 15th
2023 MotoGP Honda Repsol Honda Team 15 0 0 0 0 26 22nd
2024 MotoGP Honda Repsol Honda Team 18 0 0 0 0 21* 21st*
Total 153 12 33 2 7 1245 2

By class

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Class Seasons 1st GP 1st Pod 1st Win Race Win Podiums Pole FLap Pts WChmp
Moto3 2015–2017 2015 Australia 2016 Austria 2016 Austria 37 11 16 2 5 485 1
Moto2 2018 2018 Qatar 2018 France 18 0 4 0 1 155 0
MotoGP 2019–present 2019 Qatar 2020 Austria 2020 Europe 98 1 13 0 1 605 1
Total 2015–present 153 12 33 2 7 1245 2

Races by year

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pos Pts
2015 Moto3 Honda QAT AME ARG SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER IND CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS
Ret
MAL VAL NC 0
2016 Moto3 KTM QAT
12
ARG
5
AME
Ret
SPA
6
FRA
25
ITA
7
CAT
8
NED
8
GER
Ret
AUT
1
CZE
8
GBR
9
RSM
3
ARA
5
JPN
9
AUS
Ret
MAL
Ret
VAL
2
5th 144
2017 Moto3 Honda QAT
1
ARG
1
AME
8
SPA
3
FRA
1
ITA
7
CAT
1
NED
9
GER
1
CZE
1
AUT
1
GBR
5
RSM
2
ARA
1
JPN
17
AUS
1
MAL
1
VAL
2
1st 341
2018 Moto2 Kalex QAT
11
ARG
7
AME
4
SPA
11
FRA
3
ITA
3
CAT
Ret
NED
5
GER
2
CZE
Ret
AUT
8
GBR
C
RSM
5
ARA
6
THA
Ret
JPN
11
AUS
2
MAL
10
VAL
Ret
6th 155
2019 MotoGP Suzuki QAT
8
ARG
Ret
AME
17
SPA
Ret
FRA
16
ITA
12
CAT
6
NED
8
GER
7
CZE
Ret
AUT GBR RSM
8
ARA
14
THA
7
JPN
8
AUS
5
MAL
10
VAL
7
12th 92
2020 MotoGP Suzuki SPA
Ret
ANC
5
CZE
Ret
AUT
2
STY
4
RSM
3
EMI
2
CAT
2
FRA
11
ARA
3
TER
3
EUR
1
VAL
7
POR
Ret
1st 171
2021 MotoGP Suzuki QAT
4
DOH
7
POR
3
SPA
5
FRA
Ret
ITA
3
CAT
4
GER
9
NED
3
STY
2
AUT
4
GBR
9
ARA
3
RSM
6
AME
8
EMI
Ret
ALR
2
VAL
4
3rd 208
2022 MotoGP Suzuki QAT
6
INA
6
ARG
4
AME
4
POR
Ret
SPA
6
FRA
Ret
ITA
Ret
CAT
4
GER
Ret
NED
8
GBR
Ret
AUT
Ret
RSM ARA
DNS
JPN THA AUS
18
MAL
19
VAL
6
15th 87
2023 MotoGP Honda POR
11
ARG
DNS
AME
Ret
SPA
Ret
FRA
Ret
ITA
DNS
GER NED GBR
Ret
AUT
Ret
CAT
17
RSM
Ret
IND
5
JPN
12
INA
Ret
AUS
Ret
THA
12
MAL
Ret
QAT
14
VAL
DNS
22nd 26
2024 MotoGP Honda QAT
13
POR
12
AME
Ret
SPA
129
FRA
Ret
CAT
15
ITA
Ret
NED
Ret
GER
18
GBR
Ret
AUT
17
ARA
14
RSM
WD
EMI
11
INA
Ret
JPN
Ret
AUS
Ret
THA
15
MAL
Ret
BAR 21st* 21*

* Season still in progress.

References

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  1. ^ Sports, Dorna. "Joan Mir is the 2020 MotoGP™ World Champion". www.motogp.com.
  2. ^ Sports, Dorna. "Joan Mir crowned 2017 Moto3™ World Champion! | MotoGP™". www.motogp.com.
  3. ^ "Mir to Moto2™ with EG 0,0 Marc VDS in 2018". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  4. ^ "Joan Mir 'Rookie of the Year' en Moto2". 18 November 2018.
  5. ^ "Mir confirmed at Suzuki in 2019 and 2020". www.motogp.com. 11 July 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  6. ^ Duncan, Lewis (20 August 2019). "Guintoli replaces Mir for Silverstone MotoGP race". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  7. ^ "Suzuki confirms the renewal of Joan Mir for 2021 and 2022". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 2 April 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  8. ^ Khorounzhiy, Valentin (18 October 2020). "Rins beats Marquez in Aragon thriller, Mir takes points lead". The Race. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  9. ^ Greatest recovery a crash ever by Joan Mir! | 2020 #FrenchGP, retrieved 24 February 2022
  10. ^ McLaren, Peter (26 October 2020). "2020 Teruel MotoGP, MotorLand Aragon - Race Results". Crash.net. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  11. ^ McLaren, Peter (8 November 2020). "European MotoGP, Valencia Ricardo Tormo - Race Results". Crash.net. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  12. ^ Lewis, Lisa (8 November 2020). "MotoGP Europe: Mir's first victory puts title rivals on the ropes". Crash.net. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  13. ^ Duncan, Lewis (15 November 2020). "MotoGP champion Mir: "I don't believe what is happening"". Autosport.com. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  14. ^ Duncan, Lewis (29 March 2021). "MotoGP champion Mir denied Qatar podium by "ambition"". Motorsport.com. Motorsport. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  15. ^ "Joan Mir accuses Jack Miller of intentional collision on Doha GP straight". ESPN. 4 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  16. ^ Duncan, Lewis (30 August 2022). "Honda signs 2020 MotoGP champion Joan Mir for 2023". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
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