Source: Supplied.

Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Jack Miller opened the second half of the MotoGP World Championship with a determined ride into 14th place in Sunday’s Czech Republic Grand Prix.

The race started on a damp, but quickly drying track as the threat of rain failed to materialise and Miller was one of the first to stop, switching to his second Honda RC213V as he quickly realised the conditions suited slick tyres.

But Miller’s clever move, virtually in parallel with race winner Marc Márquez, did not pay off, with a slow pit stop and then rear grip issues not allowing the Australian to maximise his race strategy.

Despite pushing through to ninth, Miller struggled to keep the pace for a top 10 finish and was frustrated not to be able to take full advantage of his early pit stop. Miller eventually finished 14th to pick up two championship points.

“I lost some valuable seconds in the pit stop waiting for my second bike to be ready, but still thought I had a chance of a top 10 position,” Miller reflected. “I found we did not have similar rear grip compared to practice when I could easily do 1m57s on an old tyre, but in the race I could not match those times. The front felt really good, but I had no rear grip and could not take advantage of my strategy. I tried to ride a smart race, but a series of unfortunate issues cost me valuable points today.”

Team principal Michael Bartholemy said: “Jack timed his pit stop perfectly making his switch to slick tyres at the same time as Marc Márquez. It was early and the team was not quite ready with the bike, which cost Jack a little bit of time – that was our mistake. But the main issue was the same as the warm-up, as we could not create any rear grip, which meant that Jack could not take advantage of his race strategy. We need to understand the issue with this lack of grip and why it’s not always consistent.”