Reigning MotoGP champion Joan Mir was forced to concede that his title defence is over꧒ after slipping 67-poinꦉts behind Fabio Quartararo with a subdued sixth place finish at Misano on Sunday.

Already on the back foot after starting just eleventh, after a dashboard message mistakeꦫ sent him into the pits in qualifying, Mir found he ๊couldn't make his usual rate of progress through the field.

"I’m disappointed, I won’t lie. I expected much more," said Mir who crossed the line in fifth but was demoted to sixth due to a track limits infringement. "At the beginning I was not able to overtake, with the frꦰont [tyre, hard] we took wrong choice.

"Normally with our bike we’re not able to use that hard front [🃏tyre]. Now we’re trying to change because I need something more. I can’t ride the bike with the medium.

"When we saw the temperature go down, we still w⛎ent with it. But it was like𒐪 a race I try to survive. It was much more different than I expected. I wanted to attack and somehow, I was defending. I didn’t have good feelings.

"Anyway, I will try to improve the bike in the test and try to be where I want to be in the last ༒races. I hope to be better in the future."

"Yeah.🎐 It’s like this," Mir added, when asked if he saw his title chances as over, with only four rounds and 100 points still available. "Today I wasn’t as competitive as everyone expected. That’s why I’m disappointed. It’s a difficult day for me."

"I’m a bit angry because I know my potential this year," he ♏con𝐆tinued. "I’m making less mistakes and I’m a better rider. And I will not get the championship. It’s difficult to understand.

"But what also I have to say makes me happy is Suzuki, we go in the same direction. I believe they are pushing in the same direction. The next races are like a pre-sea🎃son, every race is an opportunity to give information🌸 and improve the bike. That’s the most clever way."

With Quartararo disappearing in the distance and Sunday's winner Francesco Bagnaia now 19-points ahead of the Suzuki rider in second, Mir is also prepared to take risks in pursuit of what would be a first race win of the ꩵseason in the remaining rounds.

"If I have the opportunity to win some races, make some manoeuvres at the end, I don’t care if I make the zerꦚo [points]," he said.

One of the it𝕴ems on the agenda for this week's official test is to refine the new rear ride-height system, which is not yet offering a clear advantage at all tracks.

"For sure we have to make some e⛎vo💃lutions to the [ride height] device. There are some troubles with the bike, like the stopping area," Mir said. "The two days of testing are so important for us because in a lot of tests Suzuki were not testing with Sylvain [Guintoli]. We need to test. Let’s see what they bring and if we find something to be more competitive."

Team-mate Rins crashed out of fifth✅ place shortly after the halfway🦋 mark.