Image: Supplied.

Lone Australian MotoGP class entry Jack Miller has recounted his eventful weekend at Phillip Island, ending his home grand prix in 11th position following an inspired charge forward on Sunday afternoon.

Miller had not one, but two encounters with local wildlife across Saturday’s proceedings, striking a rabbit in Q1 and cementing him 16th on the grid – his worst at home in the premier class.

The sprint saw the Red Bull KTM rider make contact with a seagull on the opening lap into turn one, miraculously managing to race on with it buried in the front-end of the factory RC16, but later crashing out at turn 10.

“Saturday came around and there’s no doubt we could’ve had a better one!” Miller explained. “I got off to a good start in the sprint race after a rough qualifying, only to have a seagull hit the front of my bike and do some damage into turn one – definitely not ideal.

“From there as the tyre was improving I started to feel more comfy. Made some headway, and then sadly put it down into turn 10 and that was all she wrote. Disappointing one, although another chance for a good crack in the race.”

Miller’s fortunates somewhat turned around for Sunday, recovering from an early mishap with Alex Marquez to finish in 11th position. It was a decent way to salvage his weekend in Australia, although left him with a case of what could have been last night.

“Got a mega jump in the feature race on the inside and was somewhere in the top six before another rider cut in on me, and sent me back down to last place…” he added. “Put in a hard fight to come back, and I did make a lot of ground, but with three laps to go, the front was cooked.

“Did what I could to battle the boys at the end, although no cigar. Would’ve been nice to capitalise on that start, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be.”