Joan Mir Mayrata (Palma, 1 / IX / 1997) deceives. Behind that face of never having broken a plate and that air of absent-minded genius hides a predator. An ambitious pilot whom the specialists already saw as a potential great when he appeared for the first time for the World Cup only five years ago, in October 2015, at the age of 18, as a substitute for the injured Hiroki Ono at Leopard Racing.
But where does Joan Mir come from? The new champion of MotoGP he does not come from a dynasty of pilots, nor from a wealthy family, nor from a heavy father who loves two wheels … Without a doubt, Mir is the son of the natural talent for two wheels and the concern to try things, between them, the skateboard . “When I was little I tried everything: rollerblades, scooters, ping-pong … A kid at 5-7 years doesn’t have to be training, he has to try many things. In school I was the son of the owner of the store skates best known of Palma, Roll & Roll, and now he is the father of Joan Mir … skate I was not the typical child who liked to do tricks (figures and pirouettes), I liked to go down fast, the speed. He had a great facility for motorcycles ”, explained the Mallorcan in an interview with The vanguard .
Everything was rolled into speed. Motorcycles beat scooters. “An uncle for part
As a mother and my godfather Guillermo they always raced motorcycles, motocross, water sports, enduro, quads … So I get a bit of them, it stuck a bit. And also from my cousin Joan Perelló”, The ex-125cc driver, who gave him the last push and urged him to adopt number 36.
With the competitive chip
Since he was a child he learned to live with pressure: if he didn’t win, he would go home; “I never paid to run”
The boy Mir started motorcycling competitions at the age of 9-10. He tried in the school of Boy LorenzoBut it was short-lived: he didn’t like the method of circling an eight. What the kid wanted was to skid, run, brake, learn to fall, to get up … so he went to school at the Balearic Federation, where between 2009 and 2011 he was proclaimed Balearic champion in minibikes and minibikes. He crossed the Mediterranean and participated in the Cradle of Champions of the Cheste Circuit, in which he won in category XL 160 (2011) and PreGP125 (2012), and from there he jumped on the international scene to the Red Bull Rookies Cup, the championship of Dorna to discover young talents. He was the only Spaniard selected in 2013, in which he was 9th. He followed one more year (2014) and was runner-up, surpassed only by Jorge Martin (that of Moto2).
If the boy Mir already had the driving gene, from a very young age he acquired the pressure chip: if he did not win, he would go home. “I have never paid to run,” presumes the pilot, who with his good results obtained scholarships or sponsors, or dazzled those who move the keys of the business. As it happened several times …
At the age of 17, Mir had already become known in the world as “an overflowing talent, regardless of whether he won races or not,” he recalls Paco Sanchez, his manager, who met him in 2012, when he was selected for the Rookies Cup. “I clearly saw that that boy had something special”, recalls the Barcelona lawyer, who touched the necessary key: he warned Alberto Puig to keep an eye on the kid in the selection tests. Joan was already on the rails to go far.
After the Rookies Cup everything was chained: ran the FIM-CEV Repsol (the Spain Championship) of 2015, in which he was 4th – and left for the annals a brutal comeback in Le Mans, from 35th to 1st in five laps (get it back by YouTube) -; that year he debuted at the World Cup Moto3 as a substitute in Australia; in 2016 he played his first full championship and was the best rookie (5th); in 2017, in his second year, Moto3 world champion with 20 years and the brutality of 10 victories (13 podiums); in 2018 he went through Moto2 (6th); He made his MotoGP debut last year (12th); and in his second year with the greats, champion. In five seasons, king of MotoGP. Márquez was in the sixth (2013) …
An evolution of great that has not gone unnoticed at the very Valentino Rossi, his childhood idol: “For me he is a very mature rider, he seems older and has more experience even though he is very young. It’s only his second year in MotoGP and he only did one in Moto2. He has incredible talent, nobody expected him to win the title this year, but he deserves it 100% because he has been the most constant, the most important thing this year ”. Blessed remains.
