News 21 May 2017

Lorenzo hits out at Miller following Le Mans crash

Aussie 'doesn’t pay enough attention to the risk involved' says multiple champion.

Source: Supplied.

Ducati’s Jorge Lorenzo took a major swipe at Australian hard-charger Jack Miller following his scary high-speed impact with the wall at the French Grand Prix on Saturday.

Miller, 22, escaped serious injury in a dramatic crash during FP4 and went on to qualify 11th, however it was an incident between the pair on Friday that sparked Lorenzo’s anger.

Words were reportedly exchanged between the pair – who trained together in the US earlier this year – during the safety commission meeting after Lorenzo was one of few to vote against reverting back to a harder Michelin front tyre, which will return from Mugello next month.

“Yesterday in the safety commission he gave a really rude response,” Lorenzo explained. “He basically told me to shove my opinion up my arse or something like that – very rude.

“I think that’s something you shouldn’t say to any rider in front of the others and certainly not to a five-time world champion. I think that today God picked him up and said ‘today isn’t the day you get hurt’.

“It was a similar crash to the one [Marc] Marquez had at Mugello in 2013. It gave [Miller] a warning that MotoGP is no joke and it’s now up to him if he takes this advice on-board or not. In my opinion, he is one of the riders that that doesn’t pay enough attention to the risk involved. He plays with it and isn’t as conscious of the risks of riding these bikes, but this is for him and he will know what to do.”

Meanwhile, Miller was content in qualifying on the fourth row of the grid following another minor crash during qualifying, nursing some injuries to his hand. Lorenzo will start from P16.

“I was happy to get back on the bike for qualifying after not feeling 100 percent after the crash in FP4,” Miller said. “It was a nasty crash and I’m lucky to walk away with just some bruises. I had some locking on the front through turn one, which sent me towards the wall and when I saw I wasn’t going to stop in time I let go before I hit the wall.

“In Q2 I went quicker on my first run, but my hand was not perfect after the crash and I struggled to stop the bike on the brakes in the final corner and touched the kerb. A shame, but I’ll be ready for the race after I get some ice on my hand and knee to get the swelling down.”

Recent