Joan Mir pens new Suzuki MotoGP deal until 2022

The Suzuki MotoGP team will feature an unchanged rider line-up through to the conclusion of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship season after agreeing terms with Joan Mir to remain alongside Alex Rins.

The Spaniard only made his full-time grand prix debut in 2016 but after going to win the Moto3 World Championship in 2017 and finishing an impressive sixth in his rookie season of Moto2 in 2018, he stepped all the way up to MotoGP with Suzuki in 2019.

Getting up to speed quickly, Mir showed flashes of strong form over the course of the year, peaking with a fifth place finish at Phillip Island, though his season was disrupted by an injury caused by a high-speed crash in testing at Brno that reportedly left pieces of his GSX-RR hanging in the trees.

Closer on terms with performance with race-winning team-mate Rins towards the end of 2019 and throughout 2020 pre-season testing, where both riders emerged as among the front-runners, the contract extension with Suzuki had long been expected.

“I’m extremely happy to sign with Suzuki for another two years - renewing is the best thing that could happen and it’s a dream come true again! It’s really important for me to continue because now I have more time to learn and more time to show my potential. 

“Two years can go by quickly, but I am ready to arrive at a higher level, and we are working every day to make that happen. I am also so pleased on a personal level because I have a really good team and crew around me. I really want to thank everyone at Suzuki for their confidence in me, and let’s see if I can get the results that we’re capable of.”

Mir is the sixth rider to confirm his place on the 2021 MotoGP grid, together with team-mate Rins, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda), Maverick Vinales and Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha Factory) and Tito Rabat (Avintia).