Source: Supplied.

Australian Jack Miller admits he’s disappointed he couldn’t fight for a podium at the weekend’s second round of the 2018 MotoGP World Championship in Argentina, citing a critical error that denied him of landing on the box.

Miller claimed a career-first pole position during Saturday’s qualifying, setting him up for a strong performance in the 24-lap race that was nothing short of dramatic.

Declared a wet race, the entire field – aside from Miller, who was already fitted with slicks – pitted on the warm-up as a dry line formed for last minute changes to slicks, with Race Direction ordering riders to start from behind the grid, resulting in the Pramac Racing talent being the only rider on the official start line.

Miller took advantage of the situation, and despite a challenge from Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) early on, he would lead a number of laps before a mistake in the closing stages saw him relegated to fourth, which still marks a highly-impressive result for the Queenslander.

“I have to admit that I am a bit disappointed,” said Miller. “I wasn’t able to fight for the podium after leading the race for a long time – I made a mistake that cost me a lot. But to be honest I’m very happy for this weekend and we’ve done an incredible job with the team. The decision of Race Direction on the grid? I think they had to make a difficult decision in a moment of great stress.”

With two top 10 finishes to his credit, Miller sits just one point shy of the top five in the championship standings as the series heads to Circuit of the Americas on 22 April.