Jack Miller finishes 17.7 seconds behind his teammate at the MotoGP race at Mugello: Scare at the start threw Miller back
Ducati were jubilant over factory rider Francesco Bagnaia’s victory at their home Grand Prix at Mugello. But there was no good mood on the other side of the pits. Jack Miller finished what was probably his last Italian Grand Prix as a Ducati factory rider in only 15th position, 17.7 seconds behind at the finish.
Starting from twelfth on the grid, Miller did not have an easy race ahead of him. “A difficult Saturday was followed by a really tough Sunday,” noted the Ducati factory rider, who started the race from the fourth row and was able to accelerate well at the start. In the first few metres Miller was able to overtake some rivals, but the quick left-hand bend proved to be his undoing.
“I had a good start and pulled to the left because I thought I was well positioned there. But then the other riders also pulled to the left. I had no more room and had to drive across the grass,” reported Miller, who had to take his foot off the gas while his rivals continued to drive at full throttle towards San Donato.
The first lap continued modestly. “Then in turn one I was quite cautious. In modern MotoGP it’s not good to be cautious on the first lap. I lost more positions,” reported Miller, who came out of lap one in 22nd position.
“I knew it was going to be a long race from then on. At least I was able to overtake a few riders. But when I caught up with Alex Marquez, it was very difficult for me to overtake him,” explained Miller, explaining: “I wasn’t close enough in turn 1 because I lost time coming out of the last corner. I tried a couple of times on the brakes but I couldn’t get by.”
Ducati is expected to announce soon which rider will be Francesco Bagnaia’s teammate next season. Jack Miller’s potential successors did not experience a good Italian Grand Prix either. Enea Bastianini crashed out and Jorge Martin finished in 13th position, just ahead of Jack Miller.
At the upcoming Grand Prix in Barcelona, Miller could already have confirmation that he will no longer be riding for the Ducati factory team in 2023. The Australian puts thoughts of that out of his mind and focuses on the sporting challenge: “I like Barcelona, I should be competitive there. Last year I made it to the podium. We should be strong there this year as well. “
