Joan Mir was born in Parma de Mallorca on the first of September 1997. His passion for motorcycle was not immediate as it is for many of the other World Championship riders – instead, his early interests included skateboard as a result of his father’s shop in Mallorca. A meteoric rise through the ranks saw him take the Moto3 World Championship in 2017 and the MotoGP World Championship in 2020, putting the #36 in an elite group of riders with multiple World Championships. In 2023 he joined the Repsol Honda Team on a two year contract.

Joan Mir

Background

Joan Mir was born in Parma de Mallorca on the first of September 1997. His passion for motorcycle was not immediate as it is for many of the other World Championship riders – instead, his early interests included skateboard as a result of his father’s shop in Mallorca. Only after seeing his cousin race in the World Championship would Mir’s interest in two wheels begin to grow, leading him to the Chicho Lorenzo school and rapidly progressing to the FIM CEV Repsol and Red Bull Rookies Cup.

The young Mallorcan immediately showed potential in the 2013 and 2014 editions of the Red Bull Rookies Cup, battling Jorge Martin for the title in his second year. 2015 saw the #36 launch an assault on the FIM CEV Championship after a somewhat turbulent start to the year, ultimately finishing the year in fourth. But the real highlight of 2015 came when Mir was called up to make his Moto3 World Championship debut at Phillip Island, replacing the injured Hiroki Ono. Immediately making his mark on the world stage, Mir rocketed up to fourth from 15th on the grid before ultimately crashing out. But his future was sealed.

For 2016, Joan Mir joined the Moto3 World Championship full time and took his first win that year in Austria, also his debut podium in the class. Three podiums and fifth in the lightweight class gave Mir the Rookie of the Year honours. The following season he returned to Honda machinery aboard the Honda NSF250RW and dominated the Moto3 class with ten wins and 13 podiums. An untouchable season led to another promotion.

The meteoric rise of Joan Mir continued as he joined the Marc VDS team in Moto2 and was immediately able to run at the front with the most experienced riders in the class. A first podium came in France with the second a few races later in Italy as he battled to sixth in the standings. These efforts were enough to immediately be offered a seat with the factory Suzuki effort in MotoGP.

A run of top-ten finishes on his MotoGP debut was disrupted by a mid-season injury at the Brno test, causing him to miss two races and spend the rest of the 2019 season rebuilding his confidence. A return to the sharp end of races in the closing races proved that this was just a blip and Mir’s speed was still there.

2020 would be an unique and challenging year for the world, but Joan Mir kept a laser focus to remain consistent throughout the trials and tribulations of the year. Consistency was key for Mir aboard the Suzuki MotoGP machine as a number of title challengers came and went, winning and falling the next week while the #36 kept the top five finishes and podiums coming in. It all came down to the penultimate round of the year in Valencia, Mir claiming his first MotoGP win at the same circuit just a week before and taking the 2020 MotoGP crown – a Premier Class World Champion in just his second season in the class.

With a target on his back, the reigning World Champion went into 2021 with a point to prove. Taking six podiums over the course of the year kept him in the title hunt until the final races, but he would ultimately have to settle for third position overall in the standings. The performance proved the pedigree of Mir without question.

2022 proved to be another difficult season for Mir as Suzuki announced their exist from the sport at the sixth round of the year and a heavy fall in Austria left Mir sidelined for four races. Three fourth place finishes amongst a number of DNFs hid the true potential of Mir that season, but lit a fire inside him.

For 2023, he took up a new challenge with the infamous Repsol Honda Team alongside Marc Marquez.

Career Information

2015 Fourth in FIM CEV, Moto3 World Championship debut
2016 Fifth in Moto3 World Championship, one win and two podiums
2017 Moto3 World Champion, ten wins and three podiums
2018 Sixth in Moto2 World Championship, two podiums
2019 12th in MotoGP World Championship
2020 MotoGP World Champion, one win and six podiums
2021 Third in MotoGP World Championship, six podiums
2022 15th in MotoGP World Championship
2023 22nd in MotoGP World Championship

Rider Statistics

Date of Birth 01/09/1997
Birthplace Palma de Mallorca - Spain
Height 181 cm
Weight 69 kg
Hobbies Ski, Skimo, Cycling
Racing Number 36
First Race Bankia XL 160 Cup, 2011
Grand Prix Debut 2015 Moto3 Australian GP (Honda NSF250RW)
GPs Raced 135 (37 in Moto3, 18 in Moto2, 80 in MotoGP)
GP Pole Positions 2 (2 in Moto3)
Total GP Podiums 33 (16 in Moto3, 4 in Moto2, 13 in MotoGP)
Total GP Wins 12 (11 in Moto3, 1 in MotoGP)
First GP Win 2016 Moto3 Austrian GP (KTM RC250GP)
World Titles 2 (1 x Moto3 - 2017, 1 x MotoGP 2020)

More Stats & Facts

Fourth Spanish rider to win the premier class World Championsip