Miller on Ducati team orders: "It's an individual sport, f*** all for fourth!"
Miller was holding a close fifth place in his home race when Marquez lost control under braking and slammed into the side of the Ducati rider.
“Day by day I’m getting better and better,” Miller said. “I definitely felt like I'd been by a bus on Monday morning. The leg swelled right up… but the hematoma’s getting smaller and a bit more colour about it. So that's positive.
“Heading into this one, we'll continue where we left off. I think we can be on for another good result. The bike’s working really well. We had to chase our arse a little bit as far as bike set-up in Phillip Island, but Phillip Island is so unique whereas here is more ‘basic’.
“So we've gone back to our base setting and we'll see how that carries us through.”
Miller: The ball’s is now well and truly in Pecco’s court
While Miller’s championship hopes ended at Phillip Island, third place for team-mate Francesco Bagnaia combined with a DNF for Fabio Quartararo means the Italian takes a 14-point title lead in the MotoGP standings into this Sunday’s penultimate race of the season.
“The ball’s well and truly in Pecco’s court now. He's just got to finish it out. I think he can. Momentum is a big thing and when you can get it to turn in your direction it helps a lot,” Miller said.
“He's definitely well and truly got the momentum in his court now, so I think he can do a good job for sure. But if it doesn't happen here, we’ll see. Valencia’s always better - I prefer championship’s decided there.”
The Australian added that Quartararo’s body language at recent events has also underlined that not all is going well over at Yamaha:
“When you see a rider punching the fuel tank several times throughout a session, shaking their head, you can generally see that there's something on in his mind.”
Miller sets sights on third in the championship: ‘You get f*** all for fourth!’
With Quartararo failing to score and third-in-the-standings Aleix Espargaro only ninth in Australia, had Miller not been taken out he would have been ‘well and truly’ in the fight for the leading championship positions.
Instead, Miller sits in fifth place, an unreachable 54 points behind Bagnaia - but still with a chance of catching third place Espargaro, now 27 ahead with Enea Bastianini in-between.
“My main goal, for myself personally, is third position in the championship. It’s still achievable. Again another long shot, but those other boys haven't been having the greatest of runs recently. So I've got a good chance of pulling back some points if that continues.
“If Pecco needs help or whatever, I'm there, don't get me wrong. But at the end of the day this is an individual sport and I will try to get the best I can - and the difference between 3rd and 4th in the championship is quite a considerable amount of money!”
That’s because the championship bonus only covers the top three places, then it “goes to zero”.
“It's only [if I’m] third! Trust me, I got fourth last year, you get f*** all for it! ‘Nice one mate, good job’. Definitely, we’re pushing for that third!” smiled Miller, who will move to KTM next season.
Miller ‘not going to bitch and moan’ about Marquez penalty
Alex Marquez will need to serve a long lap penalty on Sunday for causing the incident with Miller at Phillip Island:
“That's the penalty they're giving at the moment. I'm not going to sit here and bitch and moan about what penalty he should or shouldn't have got,” Miller said. “I don't even know how long the long lap is here. Could be worth 5 seconds, it could be worth 1.8 seconds.
“Doing a long lap here is not changing the outcome of my Australian Grand Prix, so it is what it is.”
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
