Miller calls out stewards for ‘bogus penalty’, Binder for ‘smashing into me’
Miller, who again had to overcome a Long lap penalty in order to challenge for the podium, was unable to achieve the same result as he did at the German MotoGP eight days ago.
"It was a bad call from the stewards yesterday [Saturday]. A bogus penalty cost us our result today," said Miller.
The Australian was awarded the penalty after being deemed to have affected Maverick Vinales in qualifying.
Miller had previously crashed, and with his Ducati stuck in gear, the three-time premier class race winner was trying to get off the racing line as Vinales approached.
Did the penalty truly cost Miller a podium?
Without taking a Long Lap penalty, Miller would likely have been battling Marco Bezzecchi for second place, so yes, in that sense Miller probably missed out on the rostrum.
Yet, Miller still had the chance to overtake Vinales with two laps remaining but the factory Ducati rider out braked himself into the final corner, which in-turn put him back into the clutches of Binder and a charging Aleix Espargaro.
As Binder went to the inside of Miller in an attempt to claim fourth, Espargaro pulled off a double-pass that was nothing short of brilliant.
What it did do however, was compromise Binder as the South African became sandwiched between the two, leading to him making contact with Miller.
While nothing more than slight contact, Miller was less than impressed: "No, not at all [asked if he knew Espargaro was there]. You know, I felt like I braked pretty good and I wasn’t expecting it at all,” Miller told BT Sport.
"Both him and Brad came past, [Binder] smashed into the side of me and there’s just not much to say really. It is what it is.
"It’s a shame to not arrive on the podium after that effort. I feel like I rode a good race with really sharp pace.
"I made a little mistake at the end which put me in the range of the other boys. They weren’t messing about."
Best MotoGP overtake of Espargaro’s career!
While it was a disappointing end for Miller, Espargaro was feeling very different emotions after his sensational last lap.
Asked if he thought he could outbrake Miller and Binder, the Spanaird told MotoGP.com: "No, not at all. Especially because Brad and Jack are one of the two best riders in the world on the brakes.
"They are fantastic and it’s very difficult to overtake Brad and Jack. On the last lap I was super focused because on the previous lap I was not even close, so I did the perfect last lap to arrive very close and I knew at the last chicane that I had to try. I released the brakes and braked even later than in qualifying."
