Joan Mir he finished thirteenth in the Portimao test, 0.794 behind the best time set by Bagnaia, and he did so just ahead of his new boxing partner, Marc Márquez, whom he beat by 16 thousandths of a second. The Spaniard, like the Catalan, is aware that they are not where they should be, he acknowledges that the pre-season is falling short and that he is still unclear on which chassis to use on his Honda.
-What grade do you give to the preseason?
-It is clear that you are always looking for more, but the reality is that we are far away. The sensations with the bike are improving and we are finding small things. There hasn’t been any revolution and it’s all been little things that help a little, but the thing is that we’re far away. Honestly, I think it’s the way to go. You have to bring things and look into the details to go from tenth to tenth and not try to find a completely different bike that you then have to discover throughout the season. So today we have tried and gone back to another chassis and the truth is that it is very difficult right now to decide which chassis we are going to choose. We took a path today that hasn’t gone too bad, with a different chassis than yesterday, and the times have been better. There seems to be a bit more leeway in that direction. In general, I ended up tired and I still don’t have the sensations I expect. I have set my best time on this track, but both Ducati and Aprilia are very fast. That makes the times that were previously circuit records now not worth to be in the top ten. That is the reality.
-From what you say, are you going to start the World Cup without having the defined base?
-The direction we have taken today is the one I liked the most, the one I have found most comfortable with the bike, and I think we should go in that direction. Now we have to analyze everything, to corroborate that it is so.
-Do you feel that the first GGPP are going to be complicated?
-When you are, in quotes, that you lack so much, it is difficult to think about having a fantastic GP. It will be important to go day by day, give one hundred percent and try to grow tenth by tenth. From yesterday to today I have lowered my time a lot, almost a second, but I sweat thinking about it because we are already going to the limit. Little by little.
– Is the preseason short?
Yes, it falls short. These times last year would have been fantastic, but now we are late. The others have a bit of an advantage.
-Are Ducati scared? Everything is easy for ‘Pecco’…
-Yes, ‘Pecc’o is doing a beastly job. It’s going very fast, but the other Ducati’s are also going very fast and they’ve all slipped into the top ten, with completely different styles. I prefer not to think too much about it and focus on what is mine, if not I get bad blood, but little by little.