We forget it too often, but in addition to providing Ducati press releases and responding to journalists during video conferences, Jack Miller takes the trouble to report on each of these races on his personal website.
There is therefore no point in depriving yourself of it, especially after the eventful but disappointing race of the official Ducati rider who also shares his point of view on the incident which pitted him against Joan Mir…
Disappointed at the Doha GP
Hello everybody
So, ninth again in Qatar, like last weekend, and a little closer to the lead, but not the same race for me this weekend. It's a bit crazy that I was just over five seconds away from victory and came back from where I was, but that's MotoGP these days, and that's also what happens when you spend so long on a circuit, after testing and the first race. But that's not what you want to hear, is it?
Anyway, let's go to the 13th round. I just did the fastest lap on the previous lap and I'm stuck in fifth position, and then I end up with (Joan) Mir twice in the same lap. Before that there was some contact, but that was just the way the race was going, a little contact here and there. No one really seems to care where everyone else is on the trail, so...
Coming back to Mir, it was one of those things where we both saw what happened, we kept chasing it, so I don't have much more to say on that aspect things. I had been hit three times before, I think, so it seemed like that was the way we were going to race that day. That's all. As for a black flag while the incident was being investigated, well, if I had received a black flag something must have gone wrong, but the race direction ended up calling it a racing incident.
I didn't tell Mir about it after the race: he looked at me after the race on the slowdown lap and I looked at him, we waved at each other, and I said that this was how the race was going, more or less. Other than that, we didn't talk. So, that's how it is.
I was able to attack after the Mir incident, let's call it that, and I was able to close the gap, but I started to suffer from compartment syndrome in my right arm, and in the last four laps, I couldn't even feel the brake lever. I don't want to ride like that, I felt like I could attack in every other area until the end, so I have to do something about that. I had a bit of compartment syndrome last week too, but it was worse this time, so we need to figure out why and do something about it this week. Surgery might be an option that we should do as soon as possible if this is the case. I definitely don't want another race to end like this, so we'll look at what I can do once I get back to Europe (Jack Miller had surgery as soon as he arrived in Europe).
I didn't have many people to fight with, especially in the last two laps, and I went from seventh to ninth in the last few corners with Mir and Brad (Binder) passing me. So, ninth again.
Last weekend here wasn't great either, that's pretty obvious, but we were already talking about “you absolutely have to win” and all that before this race. Things didn't go the way I wanted today, but it's still very early in the championship. The goal was the same this weekend as every other weekend, try as hard as possible to get to the top or as close as possible. That's all. We didn't do better than the first weekend here but the championship is long and we have a fast package.
The bike is good, there's no doubt about it, Ducati took both poles here, and Johann (Zarco) and Jorge (Martin) got on the podium today, so you have to do them justice. So that's a positive thing for me, the bike is fast, and I just have to do a better job with it.
I don't know about you, but I'm pretty excited to have a weekend off and a chance to ride somewhere else, which is good because that's what lies ahead. Portimao is the next circuit in a few days, and I'll tell you about there.
Goodbye, Jack
