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Unrivalled consistency hands Joan Mir his maiden MotoGP title

Unrivalled consistency hands Joan Mir his maiden MotoGP title
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NEW DELHI: Finally, after all the drama and surprises in the 2020 season, we have a World Champion. Yet again, the World Championship has been decided during the Valencia Grand Prix. A late surge from Ducati's Jack Miller, switching the numero uno position with Petronas Yamaha's Franco Morbidelli during the last few corners of the last lap marked a sensational race.

Though Miller was magnificent, magic from Morbidelli defied the former a pole finish by 0.093 second. KTM's Pol Espargaró came home third.

A right-hand fracture during the first race of the season for Spaniard Marc Márquez — who has won the MotoGP title in six of the past seven seasons and each of the past four — had left this year's championship wide open.

On Sunday, during the penultimate race at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Suzuki's Joan Mir (starting from 14th off the grid) clinched his maiden MotoGP crown after a seventh-place finish with an unassailable 29-point lead — to become the first Suzuki rider to win the championship since Kenny Roberts Jr in 2000 (the Japanese team's first world champion in two decades).

The 23-year-old became the first rider to clinch the premier class world title having previously taken the Moto3 world title, since the introduction of the class in 2012.

Another notable aspect of Mir's World Championship is that after 11 races (out of 14) this season, he was without a single victory, but was in the hunt for the title — precisely due to his unassailable consistency. His results after 11 races read: DNF, 5th, DNF, 2nd, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 2nd, 11th, 3rd, 3rd. He eventually managed to win his first race in the 12th race of the season during the Grand Prix of Europe.

Speaking to the world feed immediately after the race, Mir said, "Unbelievable. I don't have words to describe this emotion because it's something that I've been fighting for all my life. And to finally get this result at the moment I don't laugh, I cannot cry. It's a mix of emotions".

On the other hand, Fabio Quartararo, who looked to be a championship contender until the last couple of races, will be gutted after going down in the last few races without a fight — courtesy to few crashes and Yamaha's never-ending engine woes.

What lies ahead of us in the 2021 season? Marc Márquez's return, Joan Mir's title defence, Quartararo's redemption, Rossi's new stint with Petronas Yamaha and more.

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