Joan Mir in search of feeling - why he failed in Hungary

"We couldn't take the opportunity." Joan Mir was referring to the opportunity to secure points and made the statement after the race weekend in Hungary. Jorge Martin had already knocked himself and three other riders out of the race on the Balaton Park Circuit in the first corner; only Fabio Di Giannantonio was at least able to resume the race - albeit with a considerable gap. The competition was thinned out for the rider with start number 36, who crashed on lap 14 while lying in eighth place. A situation that has been repeated regularly in the current season.

In the 16 races in 2026, the Mallorcan crashed 11 times, 9 of them while chasing points. No rider in the premier class crashes more often in a race. This is one reason why Joan Mir is 42 points behind team-mate Luca Marini, although he is usually ahead of him on the grid. The crashes are often similar, with the Spaniard's front wheel usually slipping off. This is due to the lack of feedback at the limit of his RC213V. Mir and his team tried several solutions to the problem at this year's race weekends, and in Hungary they took a step backwards: "It's about the fork setting. We tried an older setup again and were able to solve some problems with it, because I was able to ride better. We tried something new in Barcelona because we knew the conditions there and had comparative data."

The same settings were used at the race weekend in Mugello, but at the MotoGP event at the Balaton Park Circuit, we went backwards: "In Hungary, we went back to our standard settings and they felt a lot better. I was able to ride more aggressively and had more confidence." Instead, the air pressure in the front tyre led to the crash in Hungary, but the general problem of a lack of feedback has improved. A step forwards, because: "The feeling for riding is ultimately the most important thing."

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