Marco Bezzecchi
Neil Hodgson has tipped MotoGP’s new era of regulations next year to be a “make-or-break” campaign for one former premier class title-winner.
Joan Mir will be swapping his factory ride at Honda for a satellite deal at the Ducati-backed Gresini Racing outfit next year, after the Italian satellite team confirmed their acquisition of the Spaniard and Moto2 graduate Daniel Holgado last week.
In your opinion, how good is Joan Mir? 🤔
He will no longer be a factory rider in 2027
Since joining the Asaka-based factory in 2023, Mir has endured a crash-ridden tenure, having crashed out of his 66 Grand Prix entries with the team a whopping 38 times – a crash rate of 57.57% over a four-year period.
As such, one could be forgiven for believing that the Spaniard has landed on his feet following confirmation of his move to Gresini. In the case of MotoGP pundit Neil Hodgson, he thinks Mir has been extremely fortunate to secure a Ducati bike for 2027.
Neil Hodgson says 2027 will be a ‘make or break’ year for Joan Mir at Gresini
In a German Grand Prix preview episode of the Gas It Out podcast, Hodgson and MotoGP commentator Gavin Emmett discussed Mir’s future move to Ducati machinery at length, with the latter issuing a stern warning to the 2020 world champion.
Emmett began by detailing just how impressive the crop of riders who have been through the Italian satellite team has been: “Obviously, we don’t know how the Ducati is going to be, but look who’s been on that Gresini bike, it’s made careers.
“Enea Bastianini, Alex Marquez, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Fermin Aldeguer, you name them. That team is a great team; they seem to always get the best out of the package, and if the bike’s good, you’re in the right spot, aren’t you?”
“You’re so right,” Hodgson replied, before adding, “Also, everything you’ve just said also means there’s nowhere to hide. This is it. This is the last roll of the dice. If he continues to crash or if he’s a fifth-to-eighth-place man, that’s sort of not good enough.
“Even though that sounds harsh. Every name you just mentioned has won Grands Prix for Gresini and been consistent, and it’s been a lifeline for their careers.
“So it’s a make-or-break year for Joan Mir next year. And I genuinely hope it all works out. I just think he’s lucky; he has been lucky to get the deal.”
Michael Laverty tips Joan Mir to ‘silence a few of his critics’ at Gresini next year
Fellow MotoGP pundit Michael Laverty somewhat agrees with the sentiments of his TNT Sports colleague, but is confident that the Spaniard will be able to “silence” his critics upon his arrival at the Ducati-backed outfit.
Speaking during the live coverage of FP1 at the Sachsenring, the Northern Irishman said (10:16 10/07), “He’s world champion with a great CV for not crashing at that point in his career, and then all of a sudden, we’re now labelling him as the most crashing rider in MotoGP.
“He’s got a crash rate of more than 50%, but now he’s got the opportunity to jump on a Ducati. We imagine the 850 is going to be a weapon, it’s gonna work on Pirellis, which Ducati have years of knowledge from World Superbikes.
“You can see them coming out swinging. With the Gresini team, we know they’ll get the tools, as they have now, to put Mir as a frontrunner, and I think he’s going to silence a few of his critics next season when he jumps on board this BK8 Gresini machine.”
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