2020 MotoGP champion Mir says re-signing with Suzuki now his “priority”

The Spaniard made his MotoGP debut with Suzuki in 2019 and delivered the Japanese manufacturer its first world title in 20 years when he stormed to the 2020 championship.

But the 2021 season proved to be difficult for Mir, as a lack of development for the GSX-RR meant he could only finish third in the standings and was unable to add to his tally of one race win from 2022.

Suzuki’s 2021 was also hindered by the loss of team manager Davide Brivio to Alpine in Formula 1, with the squad electing not to hire a direct replacement for the year.

With his current contract coming to an end in 2022, Mir wanted to see the progress Suzuki made with its new bike in testing and what it would do in regards to hiring a new team manager.

But after a strong pre-season and the signing of ex-Honda chief Livio Suppo as team manager for 2022, Mir has exclusively told Autosport that his “priority” is to stay with Suzuki now.

Joan Mir, Team Suzuki MotoGP

Photo by: MotoGP

“As I said in the pre-season, I wanted to see how the new bike was going and what was going on with the team manager before thinking about the renewal,” Mir said.

“I see that Suzuki has made a big effort to meet our requests and therefore my priority will be to renew.

“My representative will meet with Livio and [project leader Shinichi] Sahara to negotiate the details.”

Mir had been linked with a move to Honda over the winter, but has refuted rumours of a potential move away from Suzuki.

“Those rumours are totally false,” he added

“I have not received any offer because we have not negotiated with anyone.

“I asked [Suzuki] for an evolution of the bike and the hiring of a team manager, and the brand has responded to my demands.

“That's why I'm going to give it priority, although