But some of the lap times set by Mir as he rose from 19th on the grid to 11th pointed to a ‘good improvement’: “I was able to ride fast - not for a lot of laps🍬, but fast.”

“Honestly even if I crashed, so the result is a disaster, I cou🍬ld see some potential,” explain🍎ed the Repsol Honda rider.

“I made a good start, but 🏅then [tangled] with Morbidelli and was probably❀ one of the last in that moment.

“Then I started to recover, and I arrived to t♊he group behind Jack [Miller, s🤪ixth].

💝“🗹I started to make mid-‘31s in that part of the race. And if you check the only one that was doing [clearly] better lap times, by a couple tenths, was [race leader] Martin.”

Fro𝔍m lap 8 until🧸 11, just before his crash, Mir set times between 1m 31.5-31.6s.

Martin varied 𒅌between 1m 31.0-31.4s over the same period, with eve✅ntual winner Francesco Bagnaia setting 1m 31.3-31.5s.

“So that was a good improvement,” Mir continued. “I'm quite happy for it. But it's also true that we are very,ඣ very on the knife edge and [the fall] is what it is.

“I’m disappoint✃ed not to be able to finish the race. But we took some positives from this race.”

Mir, who briefly flirted with the 2024 prototype at Motegi, ജconfirmed he is using, “The same bike as in the first race in Portimao.

“So we cannot do miracles with this bike. Trac🌼ks like [Mandalika] probably are the worst ones for our package. Where we st🌺ruggle more.

“Maybe if we go to the tracks with more stop-and-go, we struggle less, as 🐲in Motegi or India. But in Malaysia we will struggle the same.”

And what about this weekend in Phillip Island?

“Normally hot temperature for our b꧙ike is not very good. We spin a lot. So in Phillip Island we will not have that problem!” he smiled.

“It’s true that the track is a challenge for every rider, also𒁏 because we only go there once in a 🔯year.

“With the 𒈔huge fairings, the wind will be a challenge for every💟one. With the slipstream and everything it will be intense to make the races there!

“But yeah, I will try to score points and put the result together because after India I think that▨ we made a step, and today I was able to ride fast - not for a lot of laps - but fast.”