Jack Miller intended to make this San Marino Grand Prix his business, moreover starting from a pole position which had not been his in MotoGP for almost four years. But the Australian made a mistake in turn 4 where he had promised to be careful. He left with his injured Ducati to live a strange experience until the finish of this event in Misano…
Jack Miller has nothing left to lose in this MotoGP season which is its last under the official awning Ducati. He already has a contract KTM in his pocket for the next two years, but he wants to close this red period of his career on a good note. He declared himself in contention to finish the championship on the podium, a goal which became distant after this last race in Misano following a fall at the start of a competition which he was nevertheless leading. He explains : " I pushed to get away from the pack or at least to break up the group. It was going pretty well until I started my second round."
At this point, the Australian went a little wide at turn 3 and he entered turn 4 with more speed than usual. He hit the curb and the motorcycle became unstable. “ I knew I was at the limit. In testing, I was able to hold on every time, but this time the front end gave way.“, he describes. The pilot Ducati slipped on the asphalt towards the run-off zone in the gravel where all hopes of the first victory of the season disappeared.
Jack Miller: “ I saw the times of two in front on the last lap and I wet my pants »
However, the race Moto2 had already shown that this one turn caused problems. “ I saw the race, Pasini and Vietti fell there. I thought, 'Don't do that' – but yes, it happens sometimes. » The pilot of 27 years saw surprisingly low grip conditions as the trigger for his downfall. “ I don't know why, maybe because of the high temperature“, he asks.
Although Miller continued the race thereafter, he reached the finish in a distant 19th place, more than 50 seconds behind his teammate and race winner Francis Bagnaia. " Riding these monsters without a rear brake and a spoiler on one side of the bike is quite difficult“, he smiles. And yet, the bike and the grip were good: “ of course it's disappointing to have crashed, but we take the positive things with us and will attack again in the next race."
« I'm not saying I would have won“, however, says the three-time MotoGP winner. “ The two in front… I saw their time on the last lap and I wet my pants… 1'31.9, 1'31.8 in the last lap, with tires 27 laps old, it was impressive. It was as fast as my pole lap. They really pushed it. In any case, it is better not to think about missed opportunities » he finishes.
MotoGP Misano J3: ranking
Credit classification motogp.com
