Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Jack Miller showed his battling qualities at a tough Octo British Grand Prix.
Miller faced a test of stamina in the race at Silverstone after being forced out of the past two GPs at Spielberg and Brno due to back and wrist injuries.
For qualifying Miller required a pain killing injection to ease the discomfort in his fractured right hand, an injury suffered in Austria three weeks ago. But he came through Q1 to feature in Q2, ending up 12th on the grid, his best qualifying result in MotoGP™ to date.
The restarted race, after a red flag in the initial start, proved to be a complicated affair for Miller, who battled the pain and a lack of strength in his right hand and fast fading rear grip from his medium compound rear tyre selection.
An aggressive start from the 21-year-old moved him into the top 10 on the third lap, but he was unable to maintain his early pace and he dropped back through the field to finish just outside the points.
Despite his physical issues and a lack of rear grip in the second half of the race, Miller rode sensibly to bring his Honda RC213V home to the chequered flag to gain crucial seat time ahead of next weekend’s race at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.
Jack Miller: “The race was a difficult one for me and the biggest issue I had was with the rear tyre. I had a really good start in both races and I felt really comfortable in the opening laps. But after about five laps I started to have some issues with grip on the right side of the rear tyre. I was just out there doing laps for the remainder of the race and making sure I didn’t take any risks to avoid crashing. It was impossible for me to fight with anybody and I was happy to get in 19 laps on the bike after a difficult time with injuries. But I am disappointed because I’m sure I could have picked up some important points.”