Joan Mir was forced to wave the white flag during Sunday's racing action, pulling his machine into the pit lane just before the halfway mark of the race. According to Motorsport.com Italia, the Honda-HRC rider confirmed that dizzy spells and vertigo brought an abrupt end to his Malaysian Grand Prix.
This latest setback comes as a cruel blow for the Spaniard, who had just returned to the MotoGP grid at Sepang after missing four races due to fatigue and vision issues that he revealed on Thursday. The opening two days of the weekend passed without major drama, but Sunday's scorching 35°C air temperature turned the grand prix into a brutal physical test for the rider.
I don't know. We still have work to do, so I don't have any other answers.
"We had already agreed with the doctors that, if I had moments of dizziness due to the heat and these difficult conditions, I would stop," Mir told journalists after pulling out of the race.
The warning signs appeared on the ninth lap as the physical strain of the race mounted. "I started to get a little dizzy. I was losing a bit of control of the situation and I decided to stop. We will continue to work and hope to resolve the situation as soon as possible," Mir added.
Despite the unfortunate ending, the weekend had offered some encouraging signs before the lights went out. "Onestamente, ho lavorato tantissimo per cercare di trovarmi in una situazione migliore. During the whole weekend, I thought it was positive. But for me the big question mark was the moment when the heart rate went up, and that happened right in the race," Mir said.
Looking ahead, the rider could not confirm whether he will be fit to compete in the upcoming Grand Prix of Qatar next weekend, leaving his participation very much in doubt. When asked if the dry heat of the Middle East might present an easier challenge, he offered a blunt assessment: "I don't know. We still have work to do, so I don't have any other answers."
MotoGP
MotoGP
