Jack Miller explains Qatar crashes: “A bit too greedy, full commitment”
Jack Miller suffers two big crashes during Friday practice in Qatar.
Already suffering with food poisoning, Jack Miller was fortunate to emerge unscathed from two fast accidents during Friday practice for the Qatar MotoGP.
The first occurred at Turn 4 during FP1, before an even bigger evening accident ended his hopes of a top ten place and direct access to Qualifying 2.
“The crash in the morning was my fault - I was just a bit too greedy,” said Miller.
“In Austin, we made some setup changes - raised the front a fair bit, changed positions and so on - and we tried to carry that over here to see how it would work.”
Jack Miller crashes in Qatar MotoGP practice
Team director Gino Borsoi disagreed that Miller was to blame.
"It definitely wasn‘t an easy Friday, with Jack suffering two crashes. Of the two, the first one especially wasn‘t his fault,” he said.
“But we know Jack - he always tries to give it everything, even when something isn‘t working quite right, because that‘s just his racing style.
“It‘s the first tough Friday we‘ve had since the start of the season, but there‘s no real cause for concern.
“Even a day like this helped us understand several things.”
Returning to a “more normal” set-up for the evening session, Miller felt his M1 “was working really well.”
Borsoi added: “It‘s a shame about the second crash, because he could definitely have improved. The performance was back to our usual standards.”
The Australian had just set his personal best in Sector 1, but lost control under braking for Turn 6 (pictured).
“I felt confident. On the first flying lap, I went a little deep into Turn 10, and in the change of direction I missed the line slightly,” Miller said.
“Still, I was confident going out on the second tyre - I had a really clean first sector.
“But I carried just a bit too much speed out of Turn 6, got a bit of a wheelie, and when the bike came back down, it shook a bit.
“I went in full commitment on the brakes, trying to keep that momentum into the next corner, but I asked a little too much of the front and down I went.
“So we‘re going into Q1 tomorrow and we‘ll try our luck there.
“Honestly, I felt good about my chances of going straight through today - we just didn‘t manage to put it all together. We‘ll try again tomorrow.”
While Miller finished the day in 17th place, Monster Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo secured a Qualifying 2 place with sixth.
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.
