Jack Miller: "I was getting hunted, I tried to throw everything I could at it"

Jack Miller came within two laps of claiming his first KTM MotoGP podium of the season in the Thai MotoGP.

The Australian used the Sunday rain to scythe from 15th on the grid to seventh in the opening laps.

That included a pass on GASGAS rookie Pedro Acosta, followed by Franco Morbidelli and Red Bull team-mate Brad Binder.

When Marc Marquez crashed out, Miller was promoted into a potential first MotoGP rostrum since Jerez 2023.

But Acosta retaliated in the closing stages, prising the podium from Miller’s grasp after an entertaining back-and-forth battle.

Struggling badly for front grip, VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio demoted Miller to fifth on the final lap.

“The first couple laps were pretty hairy,” Miller began. “I was starting 15th and didn't get the greatest starts either. I ran without the front [holeshot] device, just didn't want to spin the thing up on the line.

“And then the spray was pretty hectic. I was trying to avoid the carnage as well, a lot of blokes were losing the rear and whatnot. So the pack split a little bit.

“I was able to find my way through, settled in fourth and then when Marc threw it down [I was] third.

“But I was really suffering at the front end, it was like I’d cooked the front tyre. 

“So all my roll speed [through the corners] was pretty much gone. I was really having to park it, pick it up and get [upright] on the exit.

“Then probably with 3 to go, she had nothing left in the centre of the tyre. 

"I was getting hunted. I tried to throw everything I could at it. I really wanted that podium today, but it wasn't to be.

“Just those first couple of laps trying to get through the pack cost us and probably put the most stress on the tyre.”

Recalling the close fight with Acosta, who will take over his factory seat next season, Miller grinned:

“I was throwing everything I had at it, honestly! 

"He went for the inside and we sort of nudged each other on the exit of [Turn] 3 and then towards 4 and I was on the outside and thought, ‘This is going to go one of two ways, I’m either gonna make it or I'm not!’

“Because I'd been losing the front every lap there. Just as you start cracking the gas on, the front would go. So I thought, ‘Oh well. What better spot to really test the front than where I've been losing it every lap!’

“I was able to get it done, but he came back at me at 5. I tried to square him up again, but wasn't quite able to make it. And that was that.

“I was just throwing everything I could at it, almost like a bit of a roadblock there.

“I also swapped the [engine] map near the end. We had a map with a little less TC, but to be honest it was probably worse, just because I was spinning far too much in a straight line.

“But we stayed on, showed good grit!”

With hindsight, and having only the ten-minute warm-up to find a wet setting, Miller revealed he should have gone for an even ‘shorter’ race set-up.

“We improved from this morning, we went 8mm shorter and I probably would have gone another three in the rear end of the bike just to try and get that drive grip,” he said, referring to a shorter wheelbase loading the rear tyre under acceleration.

“Kind of wasn’t really rotating enough [weight] onto the rear. Easy to say now, but we made a big step after warm-up and probably could have gone a little bit more in that direction.”

Nonetheless, such knowledge could prove vital if rain is again a factor during this weekend’s Sepang round or the Valencia finale.

“It is what it is, you’ve got to get on with it,” Miller said of riding a MotoGP bike fast in the wet. “Try to feel what's happening underneath you.

“That's the beauty of the MotoGP bikes nowadays with these carbon brakes, you're not pulling a stupid amount of pressure on the lever. You're kind of nursing it and playing with the grip.

“You get a really good feeling of what's happening on the bike in the wet [now], both when I was on the Ducati and obviously now with the KTM.

“So I enjoy it. You’ve kind of got to ride to the grip available… Picking the bike up and all that, it’s just fun.”

Fifth place at Buriram matched Miller’s best dry finish of the season, at Portimao.