Joan Mir, the Repsol Honda rider, faced a tough race at the MotoGP Portuguese Grand Prix, starting from the twentieth position on the grid. Despite the challenges, Mir remained optimistic about the progress being made with the Japanese manufacturer’s bike. He gave a candid assessment of his racing experience in Portimão, touching on various topics, including the controversial clash between Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Márquez.
‘I saw a bit of it. This is the typical, when overtaking, the other is very optimistic, opens the throttle and they touch. And if we’re lucky, when we’re recovering the position, we pull the other along. But in this case, I think it was a racing incident that can happen. They collided, I don’t think anyone should be penalized. But in this case, it was Marc who got hurt, I don’t think Marc was at fault, he was on the outside and Pecco opened the throttle, so they touched’.
Although he considers it an accident, Bagnaia has more responsibilities. ‘We can imagine, as a rider, that when someone overtakes us, when we come back and open the throttle, we will find them. But well, I don’t think it was just an accident. I would have been angry, of course. But then we analyze the situation and say “it’s racing”. We want this, we also don’t want this kind of thing to be censored, because it’s what we do for a living and what we love’
