Jack Miller seemed to have already played all his jokers this season when he arrived for a Styrian Grand Prix which relaunched the MotoGP debates after the summer break. Double winner but too irregular, the Australian was expected around the corner. The latter knew that he had to rediscover his sense of walking and thus assert himself in the Ducati clan as a candidate for the title. But he fell, once again, and here he is now 72 points behind the championship leader Quartararo. Should “Jackass” already mourn its ambitions and put itself at the service of its distinguished companions?
It’s a Jack Miller logically discomfited who took stock of his Styrian Grand Prix on its official website: “ I feel bad, I had a podium in my pocket with 10 laps to go, but I asked too much of my front tire and I lost everything. Instead of getting another trophy here in Austria, I finished the race on the ground and gave up a whole bunch of points. First and second place were out of the question, but third was possible. And then you all saw what happened ».
He explains : " the first race before the red flag didn't go very well because I had a little moment coming out of the first turn and I got attacked going up to turn 3 at the top of the hill, so I was buried in the ninth or tenth position before everything was stopped. So I was a little lucky to get a second start, and I made it work. I led into the first corner and even after losing a few places on lap four, I felt good coming back to Fabio Quartararo quite easily in third, so I was pretty confident I could get back on the podium here ».
Jack Miller: “I am disappointed in myself more than anything”
« I made a change in front tire choice for the second race and rode with the hard instead of the medium, and although I struggled with grip on the right edge at first, I I was able to handle it and push the way I wanted. I could see Fabio's pace starting to drop as he came back towards me, that's why it's so hard. I'm disappointed in myself more than anything, and sorry for the team of course. I need to see the data and see where it went wrong because I don't feel like I asked much up front, but it's clear that I did something wrong » he regrets.
« Qualifying in fourth position on Saturday was a good day for us, because I felt we had to do a lot of things this weekend to be up to par. Five weeks off the bike is one thing, but we had a few things that the team brought this weekend to test and so I was maybe a little concerned. Regardless, I managed to find a rhythm to do a lap on my first run. There might have been some time to gain on the second run, but I kept making stupid little mistakes by pushing too hard. Sometimes you have to raise your hand... Actually, it probably didn't cost me a place on the grid because I was about three tenths of a second behind the top three, but I could have been a little closer ».
« The nature of this track – it's basically three long straights with some big braking at the end – means you can get sucked into braking a little later, and the margins are quite fine. A little more would have been nice, but we had a good position for the start. I thought we had a good chance of getting a result, and that was the case until my mistake ».
“Between sulking, I went to Pramac to congratulate them”
« There aren't many positives to take, including that I stayed fifth in the championship because the two guys closest to me, Maverick (Viñales) and Miguel (Oliveira), didn't score. no points either. It's not much, but it's something... »
« Austria was good to me last year – I had two podiums here and I had a chance to win both races, especially the second – that's why this time, it hurts even more. The Ducati always performs well here and there are a lot of guys who have won here, so I had to get the most out of it over these two weekends before going to circuits that maybe don't suit our team as much. motorbike. So I threw one away and have to make up for it next week ».
Jack Miller finished : " As for Ducati winners, congratulations to Jorge Martin for his first victory as a rookie too. This guy is a star, so I'm happy for him. And for Pramac Ducati team principal Paulo Campinoti and my old team for their first victory, it was cool to see these guys so happy. Between sulking, I went next to their garage to congratulate them. Many of Jorge's mechanics are my old mechanics from last year, so I'm happy for them ».
MotoGP Styria J3: classification
Credit classification motogp.com
