Joan Mir ‘comparing myself with the best MotoGP rider in the world’

As far as MotoGP challenges go, they don’t get much bigger than taking on Marc Marquez as a team-mate at Repsol Honda.
Mir and Marquez
Mir and Marquez

Despite being dogged by arm and eye injuries in recent seasons, Marque🍸z’s statistics tower over the remainder of the premier-class grid.

Four current riders may have won the MotoGP title, but Marquez’s six world championships put him in a different league to the one each for Joan Mir, Fabio Quartararღo and Francesco Bagnaia.

Then there are race victories, with 59 for Marquez exceeding the total for 𒀰all of his present MotoGP♏ rivals combined.

But it’s his record against the other Honda riders that is perhaps the most daunting for new team-mate Mir, with Marquez’s 59 🐭w๊ins since 2013 compared with just 9 for Dani Pedrosa and 3 for Cal Crutchlow.

Meanwhile, Marquez’s last three team-mates 🌱Jorge Lorenzo, Alex Marquez and Pol Espargaro were left winless.

'I’m comparing myself with the best rider in the world'

“It’s a great honour for me. I’m nervous and very excited to wear these colours. I can’t wait to start the season and I’m thankful to be part of this team, with such a great history,” Mir⛄, who won the 2020 MotoGP title for Suzuki, said at today’s Repsol Honda team launch.

“This is a fresh new ch🍌ange and being partnered with a rider like Marc is the best way to be𝐆nchmark yourself. I’m comparing myself with the best rider in the world.

“When two riders are very competitive, each gives th🍸e other energy to compete more and more. Our comments and feedback were very similar in the tests so it looks like we are going in the same dir🐻ection, which should make things easier for the engineers.

“I need to adapt to this bike, which has a different engine [configuration]. Iౠt’s totally different to the one I was riding before, so I need to adapt to this bike as well as testing different parts.

“So i🔯t’s not been an easy task. But𒐪 we’ve already reached a competitive level and together with more feedback and the work of the team we can have great results.”

Mir was twelfth fastest at the recent Sepang t🅠est, two places behind Marque💎z.

The final pre-season outing takes place at Portimao on🎀 March 11-12.

Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefr♓ont of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.

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