Source: Supplied.

Queensland native Jack Miller elected to take a different strategy into the weekend’s Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island in an endeavour to manage his tyres, although the alternative approach failed to pull through for the Pramac Racing ace.

Miller wound up a well-earned seventh, however he was hoping for more in front of a home Australian crowd after leading the opening lap of the 27-lap encounter.

The number 43 remained in the lead group for half of the duration, trading positions on a number of occasions before a lack of grip hindered his efforts in the closing stages, leaving him unable to challenge for further positions.

“Same result after a different approach this time,” said Miller in his regular Red Bull column. “To be honest, [it’s] not the way I was hoping my home GP at Phillip Island would work out. I was patient, didn’t overcook the tyres like last year, but I ran out of grip again. So, still seventh position. I’m not too happy, but on a bike that wasn’t in the top 10 here last year, I’ll take it.

“I didn’t expect to be leading as early as I did when I passed Marc [Marquez] on the first lap, but the opportunity arose, so I put myself there. I was really just trying to save the tyre. For the first three quarters of the race, the bike was really slow off the corners, and I was actually happy with that.

“I had a really dull (engine) map and tried to preserve the tyre as much as I could, but it wasn’t enough. I was on the softest map known to man, I think. So, happy enough with the result, but especially because of how conservative I was in the early laps, I expected a little bit more. But it was still a good weekend for me.”

Miller sits 13th in the points standings as the MotoGP World Championship heads to Sepang this weekend for the penultimate round of the series.