Before he became a World Champion, Joan Mir was selected for the Red Bull Rookies Cup and took a second place finish during his first year. He showed great speed during the 2014 Rookies season with three wins, two seconds and a third. Many expected him to be a title contender during the 2015 FIM CEV Repsol Moto3™ Junior World Championship, and he ended the season in fourth taking some incredible wins - and in with a fighting chance of the title until the final round of the year. He also made his Grand Prix debut that year at the Australian GP, replacing the injured Hiroko Ono, and impressed many with his pace. He moved up to the World Championship with Leopard Racing aboard a KTM in 2016 and was Rookie of the Year, taking his first victory at the Austrian GP. For 2017, Mir remained with Leopard Racing to fight for the title, but this time on a Honda - and took a stunning ten wins on the way to wrapping up the crown at Phillip Island, at the same venue where he made his debut only two years before.
The Mallorcan moved up to Moto2™ with EG 0,0 Marc VDS to partner Alex Marquez in 2018 and took podiums on the way to being crowned Rookie of the Year; good preparation for a quick graduation to the premier class with Team Suzuki Ecstar. His maiden MotoGP™ year was impressive and his latter season form after a monster Brno testing crash was superb. 10 top 10s and a best finish of P5 in Australia was a sign of things to come from the Mallorcan, as 2020 became the year of Mir.
It wasn’t the most auspicious of starts from the Suzuki rider, as he retired twice in the first three races of the season, but following the Czech GP, he became a model of consistency. Four podiums in the next five launched his title bid, and while all those around him were faltering, Mir kept producing the goods to take the Championship lead with podiums in the Aragon double, meaning his fate was in his own hands. Then the highlight of the year, his maiden victory came following a commanding performance in the European Grand Prix, all but securing the title with two races to go. As the grid returned for the Valencia GP the following week, Mir’s seventh place finish meant he followed in the footsteps of fellow Mallorcan Jorge Lorenzo in becoming a MotoGP™ World Champion. He was unable to defend the crown in 2021, though, with Suzuki's GSX-RR falling slightly behind the development curve throughout the season. Mir did, however, secure third in the standings thanks to six podium finishes. Mir's 2022 started with five top six finishes in the first six races but once news broke that Suzuki would leave the sport at the end of the season, the wheels fell off. Countless crashes and a serious ankle injury suffered in Austria saw his season peter out, as a fresh challenge with Repsol Honda came in 2023. Too many crashes and injuries, plus a struggling bike, plighted Mir's debut campaign with Honda, with P5 in India the best result of the season. Can HRC improve their bike to allow Mir to return to fighting for podiums and wins in 2024? Time will tell.