Having bagged his debut podium the week before at the same venue, Joan Mir had heads turned as he started from the front row and set the pace at the Red Bull Ring.

It seemed the number 36 rider was soaring towards victory when Maverick Vinales suffered braking problems and took a dramatic drive from his bike at 200mph, causing the red flags to come out.

Though the title may have slipped away for Joan Mir, he can hold his head up after an impressive performance, and an impressive start to the season. Here’s what the MotoGP fans had to say:


Nathan Butlin: Really gutted for Joan. The same happened last week too.

Davey Armstrong: He was robbed !! The rules need adjustment, it’s hardly fair that you can lose a 2 second lead because of something out of your control !! The race should be restarted with the same times in place ??

Matt Naylor: I believe he still could have won the second half of the race too had he have had a spare front tyre. Bit silly the bikes aren’t put into parc ferme. He got a great restart and everything but it’s always going to be a losing battle on a 17lap old medium and people are on new softs

Scott Pinter: All bikes should have been put under park ferme conditions, ie not touched by anyone and definitely no new tires !!! Would have been a different race, and in my opinion fairer.

Sean Putter: Mir and Binder were the two guys who lost out the most from the restart. Mir would have got his win and binder would have made the podium.

Gabi Hidvegi: He and Nakagami will feel quite hard done by considering they were doing so well before the red flag came out

Nick Pye: He’s entitled to feel gutted. 1.9 sec lead with 12 laps to go and the next 2 or 3 riders fighting…it was his ?


Choku Grande: No doubt Mir & the #TeamSuzukiEcstar were gutted about the outcome. But I believe they had learnt a lot in the restart. ?

Paulo Oliveira: In my opinion, truth is: nobody knows what would have happened if there was no red flag. Maybe Mir would have had a problem or crashed (not wishing this in anyway), so maybe it was also good for Mir at the end. I totally understand is frustration, but so many other riders experienced similar “unfair” situations. Rules are there and applicable to all riders. Today was Mir, tomorrow will be someone else. But, above all, comes safety. And Congrats to Mir, should be proud of it.

Verum Santana Smitty: His time will come. Seeing these young guys riding their hearts out is great for the sport.

Mark Celestino: It sucks but the kid is real good! He will get up there sooner than later, Rins should be nervous?

Daniel Mills: Take the positives and move on….. His win is coming, be patient


The outcome can’t be changed, but we look forward to seeing what the next races hold, and anticipate a maiden win for Joan Mir isn’t that far away…

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