While he is negotiating with his Pramac team to obtain a 2020 model Desmosedici – identical to the future bikes of the official team – Jack Miller would have gladly done without a modest ninth place, between the beginner Joan Mir and Andrea Iannone.
Assen has never been considered a Ducati-friendly circuit, and these are not the fourth places ofAndrea Dovizioso and sixth of Danilo Petrucci which will make the Reds' record shine in the Netherlands.
At the end of the first day of free practice, if “Petrux” obtained a good third position in 1'32.952, 0.314 behind the leader Maverick Vinales, the Australian was only thirteenth in 1'33.874 at 1.236. The end of free practice saw Petrucci qualify for Q2 second, Miller seventh and Dovizioso eighth. The qualifying result was not wonderful for Ducati, with Petrucci seventh, Miller tenth and Dovizioso eleventh.
Dovi made an excellent start which brought him into the wheel of Álex Rins, Joan Mir, fabio quartararo, Maverick Vinales and Marc Márquez. He preceded Petrucci while Miller was eleventh. The battle was terrible for eighth place, which Joan Mir took at 24.268 from the winner Maverick Viñales, ahead of Jack at 26.496, Andrea Iannone at 26.997 and Pol Espargaró at 28.732.
At the end of this Grand Prix, Jack Miller occupies eighth position in the provisional World Championship ranking with 60 points, or 5 behind Viñales. This is his fifth place in points of the year, the others ranging from 3rd to 5th. He also has three withdrawals.
« The whole weekend was quite difficult » complained Jack Miller on Sunday after the MotoGP race, which he finished ninth, 26,4 seconds behind winner Viñales.
“I had problems with the different types of tires. I got off to a good start in the race, behind Cal and Morbidelli. In the first three laps, I pushed and I didn't have any bad times. But then I was warned that I was about to destroy the rear tire.”
“Unfortunately I only had one option to go faster, but it was too much for the rear tire » explained the Australian. “ Because of the wind, throughout the race, the bike swayed a lot and it was impossible for me to keep my line. It was a nightmare trying to keep everything together. Ultimately, I had no feeling with the rear tire when I turned into corners. It was bad. So I tried to maintain my position.”
“Physically, the race was very demanding. During the first few laps I really tried to keep up with the group, but I couldn't. I had to find my own pace and run my own race. Finally, we finished. ninth. We had hoped for more, but it could have been worse ».
Grand Prix results:
1. Maverick VIÑALES Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 40'55.415
2. Marc MÁRQUEZ Repsol Honda Team +4.854
3. Fabio QUARTARARO Petronas Yamaha SRT +9.738
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team +14.147
5. Franco MORBIDELLI Petronas Yamaha SRT +14.467
6. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati Team +14.794
7. Cal CRUTCHLOW LCR Honda CASTROL +18.361
8. Joan MIR Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +24.268
9. Jack MILLER Pramac Racing +26.496
10. Andrea IANNONE Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +26.997
11. Pol ESPARGARÓ SPA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +28.732
12. Aleix ESPARGARÓ Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +34.095
13. Miguel OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Tech 3 +34.181
14. Francesco BAGNAIA Pramac Racing +34.249
15. Hafizh SYAHRIN Red Bull KTM Tech 3 +34.494
16. Tito RABAT Reale Avintia Racing +48.357
17. Karel ABRAHAM Reale Avintia Racing 1 Lap
Unclassified
5 Johann ZARCO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU
46 Valentino ROSSI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP
42 Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR
Provisional ranking of the World Championship:
1. Marc MÁRQUEZ Honda 160
2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 116
3. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 108
4. Alex RINS Suzuki 101
5. Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 72
6. Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 67
7. Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 65
8. Jack MILLER Ducati 60
9. Pol ESPARGARÓ KTM 52
10. Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 51
11. Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 48
12. Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 45
13. Aleix ESPARGARÓ Aprilia 31
14. Joan MIR Suzuki 30
15. Jorge LORENZO Honda 19
16. Andrea IANNONE Aprilia 18
17. Johann ZARCO KTM 16
18. Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 15
19. Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 11
20. Michele PIRRO Ducati 9
21. Tito RABAT Ducati 9
22. Stefan BRADL Honda 6
23. Sylvain GUINTOLI Suzuki 3
24. Hafizh SYAHRIN KTM 2
25. Karel ABRAHAM Ducati 2
Photos © Pramac Racing
