Joan Mir will return to MotoGP competition in next weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, his Suzuki outfit announced on Thursday morning.
The 2020 premier class world champion has been out of action since the Aragon GP last month, the Spaniard having already missed the preceding San Marino GP as a result of sustaining an ankle fracture during a nasty first-lap crash at the Red Bull Ring at the end of August.
He attempted to return at the Motorland Aragon after being replaced by Suzuki world endurance rider Kazuki Watanabe at Misano, though found his ankle to have not healed sufficiently – his practice running actually making the injury worse and thus forcing him to miss the last two events in Japan and Thailand respectively.
Having been replaced by Suzuki MotoGP test rider Takuya Tsuda and ex-premier class competitor Danilo Petrucci respectively at the two encounters, the Japanese outfit announced on Thursday that Mir would return to the controls on his GSX-RR at Phillip Island next weekend, though conceded he is still “not at 100%.”
“It looks like everything is getting better, and I was very happy to hear the latest news from the doctors following my checks,” said Mir.
“The injury appears to be healing well and the recovery work I’ve been doing has paid off.
“I’m still not at 100%, but I feel it’s time to come back because the situation is a lot better than it has been in previous weeks.
“I want to spend these last three races of the season with my team, so I hope that I will feel OK on the bike and be able to ride well.”
Mir currently sits a lowly 15th in the riders standings having not scored any championship points since June’s Dutch TT, while his podium drought currently runs all the way back to last year’s Algarve GP – with Suzuki’s last rostrum finish to date coming all the way back in April at the Circuit of the Americas courtesy of Alex Rins.
