Qatar- It all starts from zero, says defending champion Mir

(MENAFN - The Peninsula) Rizwan Rehmat | The Peninsula World Champion Joan Mir from Spain won't be carried away by the fact that the MotoGP spotlight is on him ahead of the first round of the new season. Despite winning a stalled season last year with Team Suzuki Ecstar, the 23-year-old knows the start of a new season usually means every rider starts from scratch. When the riders step out of the pits for their opening free practice session ahead of the Barwa Grand Prix of Qatar at the iconic Losail International Circuit today, it will be a welcome relief for the MotoGP family that saw a number of races cancelled last year because of the COVID-19 situation around the globe. Last year's opening round in Qatar was the first Grand Prix of the 2020 season to be spiked. Qatar, however, returns with a couple of rounds of the 2021 Championship and Mir feels ready for a fresh start. 'Everyone starts from zero, Mir said when asked about his chances ahead of this week's first MotoGP round. 'So happy to be here again, he added. 'Looking forward to this season, we have a great challenge ahead of us defending the title and we'll do as good as we can so let's see, Mir said at the firs pre-event media session. 'The test was not bad but we have work to do. The engine is the same and the bike also. There's not a big change on the bike, it will be really important to keep the consistency but improve the speed to win more races, this will be the main goal, Mir said. MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi - with an incredible 89 wins and 199 podiums in his premier class career - yesterday could barely hide his excitement ahead of the first free practice session. 'The atmosphere on Thursday of the first race is always the same, like the first day of school, Rossi said with a smile. 'It's always exciting when we are together for the pictures on the grid, you have the feeling that in some hours we start, said the nine-time world champion. From this season Rossi will be seen Petronas SRT colours and the Italian will team up with VR46 Academy graduate Franco Morbidelli. 'I changed team after a long, long time, but I feel good. The atmosphere is good and the test was not so bad, now we have to see in a real race weekend, Rossi said. 'In the factory team but also in the Petronas team everyone gives the maximum, so you have the pressure. The difference is the amount of people around the bike, but for me the atmosphere was also good in the factory team, it's not a big change. 'I'm very happy to have Franco as my teammate because we're good friends, we stay a lot of time together in Tavullia for training but also free time. He is one of the best riders in MotoGP at the moment like he demonstrated last year. So for me, it's good, it's great motivation to fight with him, Rossi said. Australian rider Jack Miller - fresh from being the fastest in Qatar testing - echoed Mir's sentiments about the start of the new season in Qatar. 'We'll start again from zero here, Miller said yesterday. 'The times were good in testing but we can't look into it too much, the conditions were perfect, Miller said. 'I feel ready as I'll be. We didn't get that big of a break (after the last season), I went back to Australia for a bit but not as much as I'd like. The pre-season went good, I didn't have a massive move it was just one garage over, I already knew a lot of the guys so we got on straight away. 'For sure I think there is a lot more hype than if I topped the times last year with Pramac. For sure there is extra pressure there, we haven't had much time to feel it, everything has been relatively good so far, it hasn't been difficult so we'll see when it gets difficult how the pressure sinks in but apart from that, everything feels a step up, Miller said. 'Having more stuff is nice to have, you don't feel the full benefit of it coming to a test with four days at the same track. Just in the first couple of exits I noticed, with the people around me, we were able to adapt and overcome other problems that took more time in the past, he said.MENAFN26032021000063011010ID1101814260