Joan Mir has revealed that vision problems and associated chronic fatigue were behind his absence from MotoGP race action for the past six weeks.
๐ The Core Development
But now with a full treatment plan completed and weeks of rest at home, he feels ready to return at 100% for this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.
Mir withdrew from San Marino GP in mid-September following complaints of fatigue and, following adverse blood tests in the days after, has been on the long term sick list since, missing 44 days from the paddock and races in Austria, Japan, Indonesia, and Australia.
๐ Background & Sector Context
With little information on his condition over the past weeks, there has been plenty of paddock speculation about what exactly the 2020 world champion was suffering from, with vision issues one of the theories raised - something he explained on his return to the paddock without going into too much detail.
"I'm so happy to be back," he replied when asked by The Race about his condition. "As you can imagine. It's been a period that I simply needed to stop, because I had some vision problems that at the beginning we didn't really know what was happening.
๐ Industry & Real-World Impact
"Related to this was the tiredness, but quite extreme. It was a process that was getting worse in the last races I did, in the first part of the season. I was forced to stop. I started treatment with [MotoGP medical director] Doctor Charte, and we could understand a little bit the problem.
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๐ฎ Strategic Outlook & What Lies Ahead
"I think the cause was related to one problem I had in the past with the vision, and with the stress of the races it was getting worse. The tiredness was related to this thing, but until the moment where we understood this thing, we made a lot of tests."
Prior to his long-term absence from the paddock, it's not exactly been an easy season for Mir in his final stint as a Honda racer, crashing out of nine of his 14 full distance MotoGP races this season so far.
