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Joan Mir: “I’m The Man To Beat, But I’m Not The Favorite”

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Joan Mir on the ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-RR MotoGP bike

For the first time since 2014, a rider prepares to defend the MotoGP title for the first time in their career.

But, the circumstances in which Joan Mir is preparing for the 2021 season are very different to who Marc Márquez prepared after he won his first MotoGP title back in 2013.

The Covid-19 pandemic means no mass celebrations, no jetting around the world to have his photo taken with sponsors, to fulfill the requirements in his contract. No going directly from the previous season into testing, with barely a break in between.

Joan Mir has had plenty of time at home, with media engagements few and far between, a necessary consequence of the pandemic. He has been in his home in Andorra, training, working to get ready for the coming season.

Earlier this week, he spoke to a group of journalists about the year ahead. And here, too, he reaped the benefits of the pandemic: he participated in a large-scale media event from comfort of his home.

No time wasted traveling, just change into a team shirt, sit down behind a laptop, and fire up the webcam.

He was as professional in the zoom debrief as he has been in every aspect of his career. And the zoom debrief was as well-organized and smoothly-run as we have come to expect from the Suzuki Ecstar team.

It’s hardly a surprise that Joan Mir won the 2020 MotoGP title.

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MotoGP

Davide Brivio Leaves Suzuki for the Formula 1 Paddock

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Less than two months after winning Suzuki’s first MotoGP championship in 20 years, Davide Brivio has decided to leave his role as manager of the Suzuki Ecstar MotoGP team and move to lead the Alpine F1 team in four-wheel racing’s premier class.

The move was reported last night by Autosportand confirmed by a press release from Suzuki this morning.

The news comes as a massive shock to Suzuki and the MotoGP world. It is also a serious blow to Suzuki’s MotoGP project.

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MotoGP

MotoGP & WorldSBK Back on Track: Three Days of Testing at Misano

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World championship motorcycle racing takes another step back to the season returning at Misano.

The next three days sees both MotoGP and WorldSBK teams testing at the Italian circuit, preparing for the resumption of hostilities at Jerez in July and August.

Present are the MotoGP teams of KTM and Aprilia, allowed extra testing due to their status as concessions teams. Aleix Espargaro and Bradley Smith are riding for Aprilia, the second test for the Italian factory.

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MotoGP

Suzuki’s Davide Brivio Talks About How Suzuki Sees a Shortened Season And Negotiations with Rins & Mir

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Last week, Suzuki Ecstar MotoGP boss Davide Brivio held a teleconference with a number of journalists to face questions on a broad range of topics.

Brivio talked about the possibility of MotoGP resuming again at Jerez, as Dorna has announced, and what that would entail for Suzuki and for the paddock. He discussed how the manufacturers are working together to cut costs, putting an end to the long-running dispute which has divided the MSMA members, which I examined in detail on my site in this story.

Brivio also fielded questions on the 2020 MotoGP season, and how Suzuki saw the advantages and disadvantages of a curtailed season with a limited number of races taking place on an even smaller number of circuits. And he went into some detail on the contract extensions signed with riders Alex Rins and Joan Mir.

Below is the second half of the interview Davide Brivio gave to journalists:

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MotoGP

Suzuki’s Davide Brivio Talks About COVID-19 Cost-Cutting, Satellite Teams, & Paddock Life in a Pandemic

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Davide Brivio ECSTAR Suzuki MotoGP 2020

For a few weeks, it looked like racing in 2020 might be impossible. But as the peak of the COVID-19 crisis appears to have passed in many parts of Europe, there are a few rays of hope that racing might resume before the end of the year.

At the moment, Dorna have put plans in place to hold two races at Jerez, on July 19th and 26th, with more races to follow.

These plans see factories and teams start to slowly ramp up their preparations for racing in Jerez. At the same time, the factories are having to come to terms with the still-emerging post-coronavirus economic reality.

Measures have already been put in place to cut costs, including a freeze on engine development and aerodynamics until 2021, while the factories and teams are considering further proposals to cut costs and secure the future of the sport.

On Monday, the Suzuki Ecstar MotoGP team organized a press teleconference with team manager Davide Brivio, in which he discussed this, and many other subjects.

Brivio talked about starting the championship in Jerez, the impact of the coronavirus on Suzuki and on the MotoGP championship, and about Suzuki’s plans for a satellite squad. He also talked about what life in the paddock could look like when racing resumes.

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ECSTAR Suzuki Signs Joan Mir thru the 2022 MotoGP Season

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Joan Mir on the ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-RR MotoGP bike

Another piece has slotted into place for the 2021 MotoGP season, and like the last announcement – Alex Rins at Suzuki Ecstar MotoGP – it is far from a surprise. Today, Suzuki announced it has extended its deal with Joan Mir for another two years, for the 2021 and the 2022 seasons.

The deal had been long coming. Talks had been ongoing for a while, to such an extent that Joan Mir dropped a very heavy hint that the deal was done in an Instagram Live question and answer session, saying that he “wasn’t allowed to say anything” but that he would have news soon.

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Racing

This Is the Best “Leg Dangle” Explanation We’ve Ever Seen

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Ever since Valentino Rossi let his leg fly free in the wind, people have been trying to explain the advantages of the “leg dangle” in motorcycle racing.

While many reasons have been offered (some more accurate than others), and while some pundits have certainly painted a good portion of the picture behind this growing technique on the race track, we have never seen someone explain the subject quite as well as Sylvain Guintoli.

The Frenchman posted his explanation in a video to YouTube, and he is not only clear in his explanation, but also exhaustively comprehensive in his analysis on the subject.

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MotoGP

Thursday MotoGP Summary at the Sepang Test: The Launches

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The day before the MotoGP test starts at Sepang is not usually so hectic. There have sometimes been launches, but as often as not, it has been a matter of catching up with people you have not seen for a long time, and talking to the few riders scheduled for press debriefs. It is a good way of easing yourself back into the MotoGP season.

Not so this year. Three launches in one day, two of them with the biggest news stories of the off-season. The Suzuki launch was interesting; the 2020 livery for the Suzuki Ecstar team is rather fetching in silver and blue, and a homage to the first Grand Prix bike Suzuki ever raced, 60 years ago this year.

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