Miller slices through to P6 at “mentally draining” Misano

Wet weather prowess once again for the Queenslander

Jack Miller (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) just missed out on moving through to Q2 on the Rimini Riviera, with a wheel just outside the track limits and his lap subsequently cancelled. But when race day dawned wet – very wet – Miller made the most of the conditions and once again put on a great show.

Winner at Assen last season in similar conditions, Miller took sixth at Misano but came from P14 on the grid – a very good day’s work.

Jack Miller, P6: “Most of the MotoGP races are physically draining, but that one was just mentally draining. It was a long, long, long time out there, 28 laps, the conditions were far from ideal but I feel it played in our favour today; I feel I rode a smart race, I tried not to get too caught up in the battle with Cal and Maverick. I just wanted to sit there and manage the tyre well on the side.

“I was really happy with my tyre consumption, on the side of the tyre and at the end of the race it looked really good, but at the end of the race it cost me as I was with Maverick until 10 laps to go and I had to roll off because I lost too much rubber in the centre of the tyre from where you’re just riding down the straight, and there was nothing I could do – I probably switched my engine map far too late and lost the second half of the race because of that. All in all it was a good day here in Misano and I feel it was probably my best weekend of the year because there’s been positives all round and I feel really good again with the bike, not only in the wet today but also in the dry.

“Yesterday I had good speed as we saw in Q1, apart from the back wheel slipping off the edge of the kerb and getting a cancelled lap. I’m really happy to end this GP like this and get a little confidence boost as the second half of the season didn’t start off the best for me, so I’m happy to have this result.

“Of course I watched both earlier races and when you see guys who have crashed three times and they still get in the points, my thinking was just ‘don’t crash, don’t crash, don’t crash’, so all I tried to do was ride my own race. I got to grips with the track really quickly and I felt I had good speed at the start of the race, not so much at the end, but I got in a little tussle with Cal and with Maverick for a little bit. Then I just settled in behind Viñales, let him lead the way, and tried to learn from him through some of the sections. I’m looking forward to heading to Aragon, our last European race before we start our overseas adventure!”

Take a look at Jack's merchandise in the official store!