MALLORCA'S Joan Mir is officially the 2020 MotoGP world champion in what is only the second year since 2013 when the top slot has not been occupied by young prodigy Marc Márquez.
Mir, 23, gave team Suzuki its first world title since the USA's Kenny Roberts Jr netted it exactly 20 years ago, and is only the fourth Spaniard in history to clinch the top honour.
He is the second world champion in history from the Balearic Islands after the now-retired Jorge Lorenzo, 33, who was proclaimed champion in 2010, 2012 and 2015.
Both the other Spanish champions are from Catalunya: Barcelona's Álex Crivillé, 50, who won the 1999 title with Repsol Honda, and Marc Márquez, 27, from Cervera (Lleida province), considered to be the top Spanish MotoGP rider in history with six world championships – the first two and the last four being consecutive – one fewer than his one-time hero and major rival, Italy's Valentino Rossi.
Whether Joan Mir would have soared to the top of the standings and stayed there this year if Márquez had been in contention remains open to conjecture – the latter, who still holds the record for being the youngest MotoGP world champion in his rookie year (at 20, in 2013) suffered a serious fall on the first race of the season.
Here, in Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz province), the defending leader fractured his upper arm, leading to two operations – the most recent being in August – and has not yet recovered to race standard.
In his most recent update, Márquez told the press he would not be racing again until 2021, having already missed the last three months of the current season.
His compatriot, Mir, was Moto3 world champion in 2017 and 'Rookie of the Year' in 2018 when he finished sixth in the standings.
Joining Suzuki along with Barcelona's Álex Rins in 2019, Mir's MotoGP début was the Qatar Grand Prix where he finished eighth, behind highly-experienced race riders including Aleix Espargaró, Pol Espargaró and Jorge Lorenzo.
He ended the year with 92 points, 12th in the championship standings.
With 171 points and still another race to go before the end of the 2020 season, Mir did not need to win today's Grand Prix at Cheste (Valencia province) to reach the top – in fact, his seventh position was plenty enough, and his results at the Portuguese Grand Prix next Sunday will not affect his achievement.
Won by Italy's Franco Morbidelli, today's race at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit saw hopes dashed in other quarters – the victor's compatriot Fabio Quartararo put paid to his own, very slim, chances of squeezing ahead of Mir and clinching the world title when he bit the dust, having already been last off the grid, and Mir's team-mate Rins had a lucky escape when Johann Zarco fell right in front of him.
Mir opted not to step on the gas more than necessary, maintaining a healthy distance ahead of Aleix Espargaró and sitting behind Brad Binder, letting Morbidelli and Jack Miller – who had not won a single race all season but was within inches of snaffling his first victory – battle it out for first place.
The winner's name was up in the air until the final bend, whilst Pol Espargaró (KTM) and Takagi Nakagami fought it out for third place – which went to the former in the end after the Japanese rider suffered a fall during a moment of over-optimism trying to pass his rival.
Marc Márquez's little brother Álex, 24 – in his rookie year after taking Lorenzo's vacant Repsol Honda place – was still in pain from a dramatic fall during the qualifier yesterday and, despite every effort, failed to scrape into the top 15.
But the apple has not fallen far from the tree, it seems: Álex Márquez has made it to the podium twice this year, coming second in Le Mans on October 11 and in Teruel, Aragón a week later.
He is currently 14th in the standings, with a chance of improving on this in Portugal next Sunday.
So far, Marc's younger brother has been world champion in Moto3 with Honda, in 2014, and last year in Moto2 with team Kalex.
SPAIN'S last-minute win against England in the 2024 UEFA Euros comes on the 60th anniversary of the country's first-ever title in the much-followed competition – and has broken numerous records, too.
A HOLLYWOOD legend joining folk-dancers from Asturias and showing off her fancy footwork in the street is not a scene your average Oviedo resident witnesses during his or her weekly shop. Even though their northern...
