'I don't know what more they want' - Miller penalised for Quartararo incident

A competitive third after the pair of extended Free Practice sessions that opened the delayed Termas de Rio Hondo weekend, Miller then fell at Turn 1 early in the Qualifying 2 pole position shootout.

Returning on his spare bike, the factory Ducati star was caught by Quartararo on the entry to Turn 7, the Frenchman making his anger clear as he overtook the Desmosedici.

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Quartararo was left in sixth place while Miller failed to get a clean lap during his final run and dropped to eleventh. Shortly after the session, the FIM Stewards handed the Australian a three-place penalty for the Quartararo incident.

"I have just been told that I have a three-place grid penalty," Miller confirmed.

"I don't know what more they [Stewards] want from me. I swapped bikes [after the fall], swapped leathers and was trying to get comfortable on both.

"I don't understand. But anyway, it's not like I was intentionally trying to get in his way."

Jack Miller and Fabio Quartararo: The latest bust-up in their rivalry

Miller and Quartararo clashed at the previous Mandalika race, when the Ducati rider felt the Frenchman had been unnecessarily aggressive, causing contact between them as they battled early in the race.

Quartararo accepted that Miller's qualifying block wasn’t intentional, but felt it had been 'unfair'.

"In this kind of corner when you arrive in fourth gear really fast and have someone not in the middle [of the track], but basically on the racing line, it's disturbing," Quartararo said.

"I don’t want to complain because it can happen. Maybe he didn't see me… I think it's not fair, let's say. But it's not bad or that he made it on purpose.

"And that's it. I did my best. To be honest we know where we lose a big part [top speed] but I think I never braked as late as I did in turn 5 in my life!

"I think second row is maybe not the best we could get, but it is what it is. I think we are in a good position for the race and can fight for a great result."

'A good chance Aleix can pull away in the race'

"I was surprised [by Aprilia] today, not the pole position [for Aleix Espargaro] but in FP2, when they made first and second. I'm surprised by how they - Aleix first of all, the pace he managed to get with the soft tyre was amazing," Quartararo added.

"So there is a good chance that if he makes a good start he can pull away.

"But I think that we have a little bit of margin in the pace because I made one fast lap, with 15 laps already on the rear tyre, and managed to get a '39.2.

"Now we will see the tyre consumption for tomorrow and let's see how it's going."

Miller is also confident of a much better Sunday.

"It was going really well today until Q2 and I threw it in the gravel! I felt comfortable, I felt like I had room to improve. My first flying lap was good enough for 11th, and I made a pretty big mistake in the second last corner, when I was hung out to dry on the dirty line," he said.

"So I left a lot of time on the table. But I lost my best bike and wasn't able to improve. It's just unfortunate, everything was very busy today and we didn't need that. But apart from that, it was a good day."

Miller's team-mate Francesco Bagnaia had an even tougher time, missing out on the top ten after FP2 and then failing to advance past Qualifying 1.

The Italian was due to start 14th, but will now line-up 13th due to Miller's penalty.