The scenario of this Qatar Grand Prix seemed as if sewn with white thread. And yet, there were some funny situations to say the least. What happened with Jack Miller is an example. Here is a driver who was in the leading trio during the first part of the race. Then he suddenly slowed down, leaned towards his saddle before getting up and tearing it off to get rid of it better. Did he, by this gesture, endanger all of his colleagues in the platoon?
It’s a question that arose and to which the fiery Australian answered in his box: “ what should I have done? Was it a dangerous move? I tried to make my motorcycle drivable again. For that, I had to throw away the saddle, there was no other solution. But if they were going to punish me, they should do it. I wouldn't understand. I'm punished enough... ».
He explains how he got to this point: “ the saddle is glued to the lower frame, this "subframe" was painted, but the paint didn't last and the glue tore the seat and paint. I had just taken a series of three quick right turns. The first corner went well, in the second I almost fell off the bike because the saddle came out of the frame, then it was like it was back in place, I thought everything was fine again . But at the next turn, she shifted again ».
« I took the next left turn, then looked down and saw the seat was completely folded. So I grabbed it and threw it in an arc. But without the saddle cushion, the carbon is as smooth as ice, and our asses have no grip with the leather. I did everything to handle the situation in the best way possible. I wanted to stay in the peloton. When I threw the saddle away, I was outside the top ten. But I was able to overtake a few colleagues and get closer to the group in front. Alas, I couldn't get into the curves fast enough. Because my butt was constantly sliding over the edge of the frame, I had no grip ».
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He finishes : " so, I couldn't tuck my shoulders in, I had to sit very centrally on the bike and ride much more inclined than usual. This ruined the sidewall of my front tire. I had strong understeer and a lot of vibration, especially in fast corners ».
« Aleix and Nakagami caught up with me... I slowed down and slowed down again. That's why I came back to the pit. It was the safest option, otherwise I would have fallen ». Miller nevertheless wants to remain positive: “ I'm happy because I was fourth on the grid, it was a solid weekend. I felt like I could fight for the podium. I think we showed good things until the seat fell. And even when the seat was broken, I could stay in the lead group, even though the bike had no handling. This shows that we have good speed. We are now going to Las Termas, it is one of my favorite tracks, it will be exciting, because the GP19 works wonderfully. All that remains is to secure the saddle better in the future... »
Jack couldn't imagine the cause of his misery. “ Maybe I stood under a ladder too many times or met too many black cats. Hopefully we won't have any bad luck for the rest of the season. I did my best to keep up, but it became too dangerous. I had some scary moments in the corners where it's best to avoid getting into trouble. Especially in those three fast right turns. I'm sorry, I just couldn't stay on the bike without the saddle ».
At Pramac, Qatar will have been synonymous with a desert in terms of points since the second driver bagnaia also gave up...
