New Champions Emerging in MotoGP this season

Four rounds into the 2022 MotoGP world championship, no notable manufacturer or rider has yet to stamp their mark on what has been a tumultuous start to the season.

 

While they may not yet be standouts, Suzuki’s Alex Rins and Joan Mir are putting themselves up beautifully for a title fight to begin in earnest when the series arrives in Europe for the first time next week.

 

Enea Bastianini, the current championship leader and winner of the Grand Prix of the Americas, may have extended his advantage to Rins and Mir last time out in Texas, putting them in the best position of all the pre-season favourites as the’real’ championship begins.

 

Rins is only five points behind Bastianini on 56, with Mir (who has yet to win a race in 2022) a further ten points back on 46. That puts them ahead of everyone except Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro in third — and well ahead of predicted favourites like Pecco Bagnaia (23 points) and Marc Marquez (21). Fabio Quartararo is only two points behind Mir, but the Suzuki camp is significantly more optimistic about future competitiveness than the Yamaha camp.

 

 

There have been several reasons for Suzuki’s improvement so far this year, as well as its return to title contention — in a way reminiscent of its slow-burn run to success in 2020.

 

“It feels like we’re working in and out of the box in a positive way this winter.” “I’ve worked hard in the gym and mentally, and it’s because of that that we have the consistency I’m exhibiting,” Rins remarked, when asked if he’d finally found his best self.

 

And, having just recently admitted that he despises racing at the Circuit of the Americas, Mir’s performance is all the more astonishing – and suggests that the 2020 world champion is once again ready to challenge for the title when the season returns to European tracks where he feels much more at ease.