Sanchez: Mir and Fernandez’s performances are not given enough credit

Paco Sanchez has been involved in motor racing for almost four decades and has been associated with the World Championship for over thirty years. In the first part of the interview by SPEEDWEEK.com writer Manuel Pecino, the manager speaks out in defence of his two riders, Joan Mir and Raul Fernandez.

You’re credited with having saved Joan Mir’s career. Quite a few people are surprised that he’s managed to secure a Ducati for next year. Do you see yourself as someone who makes the impossible possible? When it comesto Joan Mir, there are people with very short memories. We live in a world that is currently heavily influenced by a rivalry that has emerged in recent years – namely, the rivalry between Valentino and Marc. And that has practically pushed everything else into the background and overshadowed the achievements of others. Not that I’m trying to take anything away from Vale or Marc – they’ve earned their accolades. They’re two legends. To me, they’re the two best riders in history and therefore deserve to always be in the spotlight.

But I know Joan very well; I’ve known him since his debut. Joan made his debut in Moto3 in 2016, won races that very year, was named ‘Rookie of the Year’ and became World Champion the following year, equalling Valentino’s record for the most wins in his second season. He then moved up to Moto2, raced there for just one year and was named ‘Rookie of the Year’ in a turbulent season marked by numerous problems within the Marc VDS team.

The following year, we made the leap to MotoGP with a factory Suzuki – a bike that hadn’t won a World Championship race for 20 years. In his second year, Joan – completely unexpectedly for everyone – became MotoGP World Champion. That is a meteoric rise, on a motorbike that was inferior to the others at the time. Moreover, it was a strange year – the COVID year.

To belittle this title simply because few Grands Prix were held strikes me as absurd. The following year, in a season in which Suzuki was the only manufacturer without any electronic aids at the front or rear, he finished third in the World Championship – on a motorbike that was technically inferior to the others. Then what happened happened: Suzuki withdrew from the championship, we moved to Honda – and at the worst possible time.

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People criticise him for crashing too often, but Joan simply has incredible ambition. And he crashes because he tries to ride much faster than the motorbike allows. He tries it, race after race. And for that, we have to be grateful to him. And I believe that at Gresini they appreciate his track record and recognise the effort it takes to get this Honda onto the podium time and again and to constantly fight for the top places.

As for Raul Fernandez, it was far from certain that he would be able to continue with the Trackhouse team in 2027. As for Raul, he’s a rider who has shown outstanding progress since the middle of last year. He’s a rider who has come from the depths, from the back of the grid. He staged an incredible comeback in the final stages of last year’s championship. He won in Australia and finished on the podium in Indonesia. He then kicked off the new year with a podium finish in Thailand. This was followed by victory (in the Sprint, ed.) at Mugello. He went on to secure several more podium finishes before finally claiming victory in the main race at Silverstone.

People don’t seem to give these results their due. It surprises me that people don’t appreciate the fact that he didn’t have a factory bike. MotoGP is a championship where nobody gives anything away for free. But I still don’t understand why he hadn’t received a contract extension offer after the first or second race of the championship.

The fact that Joan and Raul have a bike for next year is not down to me; the credit goes solely to two riders who are both absolutely top-class. And anyone who doesn’t want to see that should take up something else or look elsewhere.