His public was waiting for him, his illustrious elder Doohan had flagged him as a possible winner, and he put on a show during the race. After a good qualifying which placed him in a promising fifth position, Miller did not leave his share to the dogs in a race where the final seventh place was the crucial issue. A battle of ragpickers where he didn't just make friends.
Jack Miller had warned before the start of hostilities at Phillip Island: his compatriots in the stands would get their money's worth. Driver Marc VDS kept his word: “ I think it was what you could call a hell of a battle. The race was very intense and I really enjoyed it. It was a bit scary at times because no one really knew who was going to dive on the inside of the next corner. Entering the Doohan corner at over 330 km/h is always a bit crazy because no one wants to be the first to brake ».
« It was an old-fashioned race and I learned a lot from it. The important thing was to cross the finish line with a few points and I succeeded. I hope the audience appreciated my determination to give them a show and I think they got their money's worth ».
So much for his version.
Now, there were many and not the least of them who wanted this seventh place: Danilo Petrucci et Scott Redding, who are also in the fight to win a GP17 next year, Bradley Smith, Hector Barbera on the official Ducati, and Nicky Hayden. The latter only saw the finish in seventeenth place after having crossed swords with the winner of Assen: “ I just put my bike on the inside of the turn and he didn't get his machine up. I don't know if he saw me or not. It’s a shame and I’m sorry I offended him. But I think it's the race » commented the executioner.
A conclusion shared by the Kentucky Kid to Pedrosa's compelling freelance journey in Australia: “ I was in a group where we were fighting for seventh place, there was a lot of overtaking but I felt good. I thought I was the one who had best preserved his tires in this group and therefore could win this battle but Jack Miller made me fall at the Honda hairpin ».
« It's the race. I didn't even see it, I just felt the contact but by then it was too late to do anything. It's racing, these things happen, especially in such a group, where there is a lot of difference between finishing seventh or last in the group and outside the Top 10 ».
But if Nicky Hayden has given his absolution, this is not the case Danilo Petrucci : “ Jack was very aggressive throughout the race, he made some particularly hard overtakes, especially in turns 4 and 10. I left a wing there and I have marks on my fairing. On the penultimate turn, he overtook me again and veered me wide. Even when I passed him, he braked later and later each time and we almost fell. Miller was like crazy. I'm glad I stayed on my wheels ».
The Pramac driver, who is six points behind his teammate two Grands Prix from the goal, finishes: “ when I brought down Laverty in Austria I was penalized. I think it's his turn to receive a sanction. In the end, I had the means to beat him. But hey, it's a race even if his maneuvers were very manly. If he had been a little calmer and smarter, maybe he would have finished in front of me. He always wanted to be the last to brake and sometimes he missed the turn ».
We will recall that Hector Barbera fell while going to visit the side of the track while trying to pass Jack Miller who wanted to be intractable on his land. He finished tenth while the famous seventh place went to Scott Redding.
sources: crash.net et MotoGP.com
