News 6 Aug 2018

Czech Republic grand prix a 'lonely' race for Pramac's Miller

Australian contender battles through rear tyre issue.

Source: Supplied.

Pramac Racing contender Jack Miller says his campaign in yesterday’s 10th round of the 2018 MotoGP World Championship in the Czech Republic was a lonely affair.

The Australian, who qualified in P17 before a crash in the opening session, recovered from the opening lap carnage to seal 12th position, which marks his best MotoGP result at the Brno venue despite battling issues with his rear tyre.

“It’s pretty hard to feel lonely after a MotoGP race, but that’s how Sunday was for me at Brno,” said Miller in his post-race Red Bull column. “I was only 16 or so seconds off the win – not great, but we’ve been further back before – but was in the middle of a big gap from the guys just inside the top 10, and then the rest of us fighting for the points that were left.

“One bit that made sense was the first lap, or more specifically what happened to me three corners into it. I got caught up in the crash on the first lap because of where I started , and [Stefan] Bradl, Bradley [Smith] and Maverick [Viñales] all went down, and I had to get myself out of the firing line.

“By the end, the bike was giving me a strange feeling in a straight line, not even the corners, so we just needed to get it home really, and then analyse why that happened with the rear tyre. We had much better pace in the practices than that, so I’m pretty disappointed on that side. But I was happy to finish again, and while 12th doesn’t sound like much, it’s actually better than I’ve gone here on a MotoGP bike before, so that’s a positive.”

The Queensland-native sits 10th in the championship standings as nine rounds remain in the 19-stop series.

Recent