Suzuki makes official jump of Mir to MotoGP in 2019

For weeks the rumor has been circulating, but now it is official: Joan Mir will be a Suzuki pilot starting in 2019. At 21 years old the talented 2017 Moto3 World Champion will join Alex Rins (22), thus converting the Suzuki Ecstar Team in the youngest MotoGP team. Betting on youth is certainly an interesting decision on the part of Suzuki ... but not without risk. To talk about why this unique approach in MotoGP and many other things we sat down with Suzuki team manager, Davide Brivi

For weeks the rumor has been circulating, but now it is official: Joan Mir will be a Suzuki pilot starting in 2019. At 21 years old the talented 2017 Moto3 World Champion will join Alex Rins (22), thus converting the Suzuki Ecstar Team in the youngest MotoGP team. Betting on youth is certainly an interesting decision on the part of Suzuki ... but not without risk. To talk about why this unique approach in MotoGP and many other things we sat down with Suzuki team manager, Davide Brivio. A long conversation in which he explained the strategy behind giving up to choose renowned pilots in favor of young talented but inexperienced. Whether it is a wrong approach or not, only time will tell, but what is clear is Suzuki's philosophy of wanting to do things his way. Finally it is official. Mir will join his team next season. It gives the feeling that it has been a long negotiation.

Basically three names have been shuffled to occupy the second position of pilot in Suzuki, because the continuity of Alex Rins was clear from the beginning, correct?

"With Alex we had the option of renewing for 2019 and 2020. According to this option, we could have waited and applied it, but what we did was talk to each other." Arriving with Alex was very simple. In the end, it was and is an investment for us, we believe that Alex is a great talent, I believe that in the future he can become one of the best MotoGP riders. part very satisfied to continue with him ".

 

"Reaching an agreement with Rins was easy: he was happy to continue with us and we were happy to continue with him"

 

How do you evaluate the talent you attribute to Alex?

"Comparing and analyzing, in the case of Alex, we analyze how he is piloting and compare it with the data we have from Maverick, Aleix or Iannone."

And you see that he has "something special"?

Yes, you can see where it is stronger, where it may be missing. In general, Alex is very good. You can see that he is driving very well. He has some points where he may need to improve, but you can see that he has talent and that he can go fast with the bike. There are also other important "data". As you know, last year was very difficult for Alex due to his accidents and injuries. He returned alone to Assen, and at the end of the season finished between the first six in Motegi and Philip Island and fourth in Valencia. His learning curve was very fast. His progression showed that if these falls and injuries do not occur he could have reached that level in the middle of the season, in June, July. These are things that must be analyzed and considered. "

 

"Due to the early and crazy start of the pilot market, we had to assess Iannone's continuity considering his performance last year"

Let's go back to the second pilot. Why did you resign Andrea Iannone? "It's always a tough decision when you have to talk about the drivers, one of the problems is that today, especially this year, the driver's market starts very soon, if, as it happened, it starts in the first GP of the season, You can only judge the drivers for their performance from the previous season.This is not good for the drivers and is also negative for the teams.This market does not allow the drivers to show their progress, the same is true for motorcycles and / or motorcycles. If you start the season with problems on the bike and then after three, four or five races the improvements, it's already too late ... The riders looking for a competitive bike for the following season have already made a decision. " So, did you base your decision on Andrea based on your 2017 season?