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Jack Miller was left disappointed after finishing P6 at the Japanese MotoGP on Sunday, October 1. The KTM rider started the race on the front row and was coming off a P4 finish in the sprint. In the race where the weather turned for the worse quickly as rain started falling on the very first lap, the rider was unable to make the most of his wet weather prowess.
The Australian has been famous for his wet weather skills and has won multiple races in similar conditions. In Motegi, however, since Miller was on a KTM, a bike he was not as familiar with, he found it hard to adapt. The rider fell back to P7 and P8 at one time, with the situation made worse by the soft compound rear tire that he used.
When the rain intensified, Jack Miller started making up ground once again to the frontrunner but when the race was red-flagged, he was only in P6. In a race that he started on the front row, the 28-year-old felt he could achieve a better result. Talking to MotoGP.com after the race, Miller said that he wanted more than a P6 result.
“Not the best day but also not the worst and I’m happy we finished. It took some time for the tyres to get going in the first part and I managed to save the rubber while gaining some time on the guys as the rain started to fall harder. We made a couple of tweaks to the bike to try and challenge those boys for the restart but it wasn’t meant to be today. Sixth place today but I wanted more," Miller said.
Jack Miller's teammate suffers a DNF in the race
Jack Miller's teammate Brad Binder suffered a DNF (Did Not Finish) in the race as he locked up into turn 3 and lost the bike. The South African had secured a podium in the sprint on Saturday and hence was disappointed at the outcome. He said (via Speed Trap Magazine):
“We were fast in all sessions and to bring home a podium in the Sprint yesterday was fantastic but unfortunately today it was tricky with the weather conditions and we came in after the first lap for the bike swap. I started to feel good in the rain and with good pace but I had a small lock going into Turn 3 and that was it. Thank you to my team for their hard work. We’ll try and make up for it next time around.”
KTM and Jack Miller will, however, be happier with the surge in form for the Australian. Miller had struggled in the last few races and this comes as a welcome surprise.
