The mischievous and talented Jack Miller showed up on his land on Phillip Island with a knight's armor drawn on his suit. He thus showed his intentions for the Australian Grand Prix tournament and he did not disappoint. He fought like a lion, encouraged by his teammate Bagnaia who was in great shape and who wanted to beat him up. And that motivates! Viñales' disappointment in the last lap put him on the podium, a real joy for the Pramac rider who is gaining strength at Ducati...
By taking his third podium of the year after that ofAustin and Brno while asserting himself as the best driver Ducati in a Grand Prix, Jack Miller asserts itself in a Ducati clan where competition is tough. In Australia, he tasted the icing on the cake by climbing onto the podium to better celebrate with his compatriots.
On his race with twists and turns, the 24-year-old driver explains: “ I saw on the grid that some guys had soft tires. I thought "Hm, they're pretty brave", because in the dry testing sessions this weekend I covered a few laps with the soft compounds. But with me, the wear and tear was way too high. I wondered if, in throttle control, the rivals were so much better than me or if they were hoping for rain so they could change bikes after a few laps. »
« In the end it looked like only 4th place would be a winner for me. At first I preferred to wait. Because when Danilo had his huge crash just after the start, I was a little worried, because like me, he had a hard rear tire. On my second turn the rear wheel also slipped, but I managed to catch up. I just lost a few positions. But Danilo's fall seemed really hard. I heard he wasn't injured, that makes me happy. »
He pursues : " Valentino immediately took the lead. I thought he had plans for today. But then I quickly caught him, the two Aprilias showed up, Rins overtook me at turn 2. He stayed in front of me for ten laps, then he dropped back. In the end I had Dovi in front of me. I thought it would stay like this, that we would grit our teeth until the end. But with ten laps to go, Pecco Bagnaia passed, he was driving like he had been stung by a tarantula ».
« The fact that he wanted to beat me gave me extra motivation, because he is after all my young teammate, a rookie. I couldn't afford that here on Phillip Island. In the end I managed to catch up with him. I overtook him in the penultimate corner. Dovi took me by surprise after turning into turn 1. But I saw it was over with his rear tire. Because he almost fell in turn 2. I was able to trap him on the inside lane. At turn 9 I saw a cloud of dust ahead. My heart rate increased by 50 beats per second. You never want to see an opponent go down, let alone two turns in front of the checkered flag. But it had just happened. »
He finishes : " I took another line, I was like: "inside, inside"... And in the last two corners, I put the mapping on "Full Power", because I wanted to make sure that no one would overtake me at home. » Mission accomplished for the Australian who is now heading towards Malaysia and the Sepang track which will be part of the celebration next weekend.
MotoGP Australia J3: standings
| 1 | Marc Márquez | SPA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | 40m 43.729s |
| 2 | Cal Crutchlow | GBR | Honda LCR (RC213V) | + 11.413s |
| 3 | Jack Miller | AUS | Bow Ducati (GP19) | + 14.499s |
| 4 | Francis Bagnaia | ITA | Bow Ducati (GP18) * | + 14.554s |
| 5 | Joan mir | SPA | Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) * | + 14.817s |
| 6 | Andrea Iannone | ITA | Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) | + 15.280s |
| 7 | Andrea Dovizioso | ITA | Ducati Team (GP19) | + 15.294s |
| 8 | Valentino Rossi | ITA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | + 15.841s |
| 9 | Alex Rins | SPA | Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) | + 16.032s |
| 10 | Aleix Espargaró | SPA | Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) | + 16.590s |
| 11 | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) | + 24.145s |
| 12 | Pol Espargaro | SPA | Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) | + 26.654s |
| 13 | Johann zarco | FRA | Honda LCR (RC213V) | + 26.758s |
| 14 | Karel Abraham | CZE | Real Avintia Ducati (GP18) | + 44.912s |
| 15 | Hafiz Syahrin | MAL | Red Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16) | + 44.968s |
| 16 | Jorge Lorenzo | SPA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | + 66.045s |
| Maverick Vinales | SPA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | DNF | |
| Mika Kallio | END | Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) | DNF | |
| Tito Rabat | SPA | Real Avintia Ducati (GP18) | DNF | |
| fabio quartararo | FRA | Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) * | DNF | |
| Danilo Petrucci | ITA | Ducati Team (GP19) | DNF | |
