Jack Miller explains the cause of the accident that cost him victory in the Austrian MotoGP | MotoGP
Jack Miller started the Austrian MotoGP race in the top four and finished with lap times good enough for the top six.
Unfortunately for the Australian, who was looking to build on his fifth place and the best KTM in the sprint, he crashed mid-race and finished outside the points in 19th place.
Miller was conserving his rear tyre at the start of the Grand Prix as he was overtaken by teammate Brad Binder and VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi.
The accident happened when Miller, who said he had not felt any contact with Marc Marquez the previous lap, lost the front in the chicane on the eleventh of 28 laps.
“It wasn’t the day we had imagined, but I had a better start and we rode a softer map today. I saved the bike at the beginning and sacrificed a little, but I felt comfortable,” explained Miller.
“I had the bike pretty steady, especially in turns 3 and 5. I was just trying to save the right side of the rear tire. So I was wobbling a bit but trying to stay in the fight and play for the long haul. But in the end I didn’t manage it.
“I came a little too fast (to the chicane), the front started to bounce and that was it. But I was able to right the bike, get back on and go.
“I didn’t give up and pushed until the end. I wish we could have held on, that’s for sure, because I felt really strong at the end of the race.”
Miller lost 20 seconds on the lap he crashed, and if it had been deducted from his race time, he would have finished seventh, but that doesn’t even take into account the damage he sustained on the remaining 17 laps.
“The bike handled pretty well considering it had bent handlebars, a couple of broken fenders and so on,” Miller said. “But the tire stayed in really well and we were one of the fastest bikes on the track for the last six laps.”
“So I have to settle for ‘what could have been’, but it was still nice to be competitive again this weekend. It gave me a lot of confidence.”
Binder secured the highest KTM title with fifth place, but was 18.620 seconds behind race winner Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati).
