Source: Red Bull KTM Ajo.

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Jack Miller fell short of a podium during Sunday’s Moto3 stanza at Brno in the Czech Republic, but stretched his world championship lead to 23 points in the process.

The Aussie, who is all but confirmed to be headed to MotoGP’s premier class with LCR Honda next season, missed out on his chance to take victory on the last chicane in an entertaining race-long battle of up to 17 riders.

Miller didn’t assume the lead of the race until only two laps remained, when he made his final attack. He led upon entry to the final chicane of the track, but a small mistake dropped him down to fifth. The top 16 riders were all separated by less than two seconds.

“On the last chicane I had a good position, but I made a small mistake on the corner leading onto the straight and lost four places,” Miller said. “The race could have gone better, but we should be happy because we have extended the lead in the Moto3 World Championship standings by two points.

“Step by step we are improving. We must be satisfied with the weekend. We suffered but, in the end, we had the chance to fight for the victory, which would have been great. Now we need to focus on Silverstone, which is a good track for me.”

The next round of the Moto3 World Championship takes place in two weeks time in Great Britain for round 12 of the season.