Joan Mir takes Valencia podium and Rookie of the Year title

It was a masterful race for Joan Mir in Valencia, conducted with tactical intelligence and tenacity, still fighting with a knife between his teeth for the first positions. He spent a good time out alone at the front of the race and was clearly confident.

The 19-year old Mallorcan shot off at the start and was soon with the leaders. Then on the second lap he took command of operations until the seventh lap, when he was forced by Race Direction to yield a position for passing under yellow flags for another incident on track.

Soon Mir took over the leadership of the race and went about stretching half a second gap over his pursuers. World Champion Brad Binder was charging and rapidly approaching the front after an early race incident. Meanwhile Fabio Quartararo found himself in the middle of the points in conflict with Bulega as Andrea Locatelli loitered behind.

With 7 laps to Migno tried a new attack, followed by Binder, the two passing Mir. But Mir showed him impressive pace and level head to stay calm and respond. On the last lap the South African passed Mir on the straight and closed all the doors.

Joan Mir settled for the second step of the podium, the third podium of the season and moved to fifth place in the standings with 144 points to end as Rookie of the Year.

#36 Joan MIR – 2nd
“I am very happy to end the season this way: I would not have said at the beginning of the year that I would end up fighting at every opportunity, winning one race and getting two podiums. I want to thank the whole team because they have worked hard on a bike that did not know. I can not wait to get on the new bike and to be competitive from the first race!”

Source: Leopard