Miller remains in MotoGP™ title contention despite tough race
Monday, 14 September 2020
The Aussie is 12 points behind Andrea Dovizioso.
Australia’s Jack Miller remains in the hunt for the 2020 MotoGP™ title despite a tough outing at the San Marino GP.
The Pramac Ducati rider, who started from fifth on the grid – the best of the rest after Yamaha completed a top-four qualifying lockout, finished the race at Misano in eighth place.
Miller was in podium contention early on before dropping back through the field, with Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha) claiming his maiden MotoGP™ victory.
Miller’s teammate Francesco ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia secured his first MotoGP™ podium, charging through the field to finish second despite being on crutches in the garage.
Joan Mir (Suzuki) completed the rostrum, denying Valentino Rossi his 200th premier-class podium finish with a pass on the final lap of the race.
Miller crossed the line in P9 but gained a spot after Takaaki Nakagami exceeded track limits on the last lap.
🇦🇺 @jackmilleraus' got a rocket start but not the result he was looking for at the #SanMarinoGP. He remains third in the championship standings & still well in the title hunt 🎯 #MotoGP pic.twitter.com/AH61EefIna
— Australian MotoGP™ (@ausmotogp) September 13, 2020
“I understood from probably Lap 5 that I was going to struggle later on with the tyres, and on Lap 7 I switched the mapping to try to conserve to have something left at the end to fight with,” Miller said on his official website.
“Didn’t work, though. I suffered a lot with the rear tyre and then the front tyre on the left-hand side. Maybe in hindsight I was using too much angle.
“I tried to manage as best I could, but by the end I was really having to control the speed in the changes of direction.
“I used the medium front and the soft rear (tyres), and maybe I need to trust my instincts with what tyres are working for me in the future and listen to myself more when we choose what I race with.”
Miller added: “So not a great race for me, but we had a fairly crazy top three that nobody would have predicted again, and we live to fight another day.”
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati), who finished seventh at Misano, leads the MotoGP™ standings on 76 points, ahead of Petronas Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo (70 points), and Miller (64).
“There’s never a dull moment this year, that’s for sure,” Miller said.
“It feels like a championship anyone can win at the moment because of the inconsistency.”
Miller has a second chance at Misano this weekend, at the race which will be known as the Emilia Romagna GP, on 18-20 September.
2020 FIM MotoGP™ World Championship Standings
- Andrea Dovizioso - 76
- Fabio Quartararo - 70
- Jack Miller - 64
- Joan Mir - 60
- Maverick Vinales - 58
