Joan Mir couldn't coꦰnceal his disappointment at fading five-seconds from a trio of Ducatis that dominated Sunday's MotoGP season finale.

It 🦹meant the Suzuki rider, who split Francesco Bagnaia, Jorge Martin and Jack Miller until lap 19 of 27, finished his title defence without leading a single race lap this season, let alone a victory.

"I don't know how to start. I'm really disappointed. I didn't expect these feelings on the race. I thought that this time could be our day, we worked very well during all the practice, but realistically I was there during the race but there was nothing I ♛could do," Mir said.

"I was struggling a lot wit🥂h the front, a lot. Our grip was not fantastic, and I dꦛidn't have any advantage to fight with them. So it's frustrating, because it's not the position I want to be, fighting for podiums, I want more. It's a difficult situation for me again."

Mir not only faced the usual ཧproblem of trying to overtake the m💮uch faster Desmosedicis, but was surprised that – unlike last season – they got even stronger as the race went on.

"Before when I was behind them, especially last year, I could see some weak points," he explained. "Last year when they started with all that power, it was massive. [But] then at the end of the race, they were s🍒truggling to turn the bike a bit more than us, and also on acceleration when the tyre was getting more used.

"[This time] I didn't see a𒁃ny loss of performance in the last laps, for me it's the opposite. They are even stronger on the end of the race. So it's not easy to undꦕerstand.

"I don't see any weak points, and this is something that I'm worried about. And they are able to be fast with a lot of different styles. So we have work to do if we want to fight again next year, because for sure they wilꦦl be really strong."

The Spaniard also highlighted that while he suffered with the usual front tyre issues when tucked in behind the Ducatis, they didn't seem to be affectඣed.

"If you are behind one, you normally heat the front tyre more and you can have trouble. But they don't have this problem! So this is what I don't understand. It's very difficult, very difficult. Honestly, we have a lot of wor♐k to do."

Mir then compared the race times from 2020 and 20♋21 to illustrate his con🤡cern.

"It's very curious, because when I won the first Valencia race inꦗ 2020, we were 25 seconds slower [than today]," he said.

"Then in the second race [last year], with more information on track, Morbidelli won in front of Jack, and they finished the race in 41 minutesℱ and 22 seconds.

"[This year] I finished 2 seconds f🦹aster than that race. But somehow, they made some improvement to be 15 seconds faster – Jack less, of course, but t🌊he others even more."

Mir's figure of 15-seconds see♐med to be compared to last year's race time by former factory Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso, in eighth, with Miller having been seven seconds quicker than 2020.

"It's something t⭕hat is a huge step that they did if you analyse well. W♕e have to work, we have to work," Mir repeated.

Failing to win a race during hi🌠s season as reigning champion was naturally a bitter blow.

"It's true that I didn't win, but what nobody can say is that I didn't get 100% of the bike," Mir said. "And also, inside of me🌸, I'm really disappointed, but I☂ will sleep well tonight, and during all the year, because I couldn't do it better.

"It's difficult also for [Suzuki]. I understand 100%. But if you have inside your t𓂃eam a winner, also it's difficult to manage fo🌜r him, all the pressure that I put on myself during all the season was huge.

"Also, I think that from this situation that Suzuki lived this year, we will be stronger in the future. Because this year they realised many things, about how difficult i🎀t is winning in MotoGP."

🐼Mir and Suzuki now turn their attention to 2022 and this week's official test at Jerez.

"It's frustrating for me. From the other side, I also have to say the improvement that Suzuki is doing makes me really happy. This is something that we can🍸 see on paper, we can feel in the box, and for sure we will fight hard in the test.

"The most important thing is ℱnot to be fast in the test, that is important, but the most important thing is the information.

"We have to do a lot of laps, Suzuki will bring the two test riders they have, Tsuda and Sylvain, and they h🔯ave also things to try at the beginning of the test and everything, and then we will try the things that matter more, there are a lot of things, thankfully, or hopefully. And we have to focus in many areas.

"The interesting thing about this test is that we didn't have just one or two 𝓀things to try, we have plenty of things to work on the details of the bike.

"I think we have margin to improve this year for the next one, and we for sure will try ꩵchassis, we will try the aerodynamics side, we will try the engine, because it's not frozen any more.

"And this is ღreally important. It's eve𓆏n more important than this race, which was super important. But to give good information and to give the correct feedback to our engineers, it will be the key for next year."

While Mir had alread🧸y confirmed third place in the world championship, with six podiums, team-mate Alex Rins crashed out for the sixth time this season and finished in just 13th overall.

"Unlucky race in Valencia fo🃏r sure. It's a big shame to finish the season like this, because the pace was there," said Rins, who was ahead of his team-mate in third when he fell.

"I made a mistake, I was a little bit wide, and crashed because I wasn't on th𒐪e correct line. The pressure of the brake was good, but I had a bit more angle.

"♔The important thing is that we analysed the crash in the box and we discovered why I crashed. Let's see, let's learn a lot from this year to go on to the next one.

"It was quite difficult behind Pecco and Martin, but let's finish this season and go to the Jerez test to try a new bike and to see if we can fight for th💛e next year."