Mir to speak with safety commission about bumps, ‘we have to find some solution’

Joan Mir has joined current MotoGP championship leader Fabio Quartararo in speaking out against the current track conditions at COTA. 

On a day when MotoGP returned to America for the first time since 2019, the topic of bumps has once again dominated proceedings, as it did two years ago.

Mir, who finished FP2 in 13th said: "I think I speak for all the riders when I say if we come back and they don’t resurface there is no chance to race. 

"For sure there is some sort of solution in this case but it means money no? It is expensive and I don’t know if they can find a solution. 

"Here it looks like every three years they must resurface! I understand it is difficult but we have to find some solution because today…well…we have to find some measure. 

"We will speak seriously in the Safety Commission and we will see what the conclusion is."

Mir’s comments come in-line with that of Quartararo who was displeased with where and how many bumps there were, which led him to call the track surface ‘a joke’.

Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro went further, calling the race into question: "For me it’s a joke to be here. We cannot race. It’s very dangerous. Very, very dangerous. Nightmare. I’ve never ridden a track like this. I don’t want to think what can happen starting a race with 20 bikes with a full tank and we go through the bump of corner 2 and 10. It’s a joke.

"If I have to vote on the Safety Commission I would say I will not race. For me no way. It’s very, very dangerous. Very, very dangerous."

Mir meanwhile doesn’t believe he could race safely with his current bike and setting: "Well with my bike and setting I have to say not. If tomorrow I improve and everything is a bit better and I can go through the bumps then maybe. 

"I don’t know what the other riders think about it. For sure there will be some that profit from the situation and say “it’s not bad, it’s OK."

Mir is aiming to use the new Suzuki chassis over the course of the weekend in order to evaluate whether it is more compliant with the bumps, while other ‘things’ from the recent Misano test could be tested too. 

"We have to see if the other chassis is better for the bumps. We will try but now the priority if the bike is quite well in the rest of the track is to find stability," added Mir.  

"That’s the main thing. If we get what we need then we will try things of the test."