Joan Mir’s Thai MotoGP exit: “Dangerous to stay on the bike”

Marc Marquez’s rim ‘explosion’ put Joan Mir up to fifth place with a handful of laps to go in Sunday’s Thai MotoGP.

But just moments later, the Honda rider was forced to pit with a different kind of terminal tyre issue of his own.

While Marquez’s downfall was caused by a heavy impact with a kerb, rather than the tyre itself, a strip of rubber appeared to be missing from the middle of Mir’s rear tyre.

“I enjoyed all the race, 22 laps, until I had a problem with an ‘external supplier’!” GPOne.com quotes Mir as saying, the Honda rider carefully avoiding the word ‘tyre’.

“We have to check properly what happened because it was very strange. Normally, you feel a drop [in grip], but in this case, I had to retire.”

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Mir revealed there was so much wheelspin that it confused the RC213V’s electronics.

“I could not even stay on the bike because it was dangerous. Even the electronics of the bike were not working properly with the amount of spin, so the bike was stopping,” he said.

“All the hard work during the test, weekend and race was over with a few laps to go.”

The 2020 MotoGP champion added that he had very little warning.

“It was quite unexpected, from one lap to the other. I think we were all struggling a lot with the tyre management. But this was something different. So we have to understand.”

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Without the tyre issue, Mir felt he might even have challenged Aprilia’s Jorge Martin for fourth place.

“We have to be very happy and proud because it’s not an easy track for us,” he said. “I had to compensate with the front, but I was able to defend my position and even attack at the end.

“At the end of last year we had some tracks that were a little bit better for our style and bike and could make a couple of podiums,

“But in a track like this one where we’ve been struggling a lot – a top five or even catching Jorge for a top four was more than what we could imagine. So it was a shame.”

Mir’s exit left HRC team-mate Luca Marini as the top Honda, in tenth place.

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