‘Not a lot of negatives’ for Miller despite COTA crash

Jack Miller was refusing to be too downcast after throwing away a potential MotoGP podium at the Grand Prix of the Americas.

The Red Bull KTM rider was in touch with Francesco Bagnaia and Alex Rins when he slid off at Turn 6 of the Grand Prix race at the Circuit of The Americas after losing the front.

Ducati’s Bagnaia later crashed out of the lead, with Rins going on to claim a memorable victory for the LCR Honda team ahead of VR46 Ducati’s Luca Marini and factory Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo.

It was Miller’s sixth crash of the weekend but the 28-year-old, who claimed ninth in the Sprint, is full of optimism for the remainder of the season.

“The bike was working great, I got a rocket start like I did yesterday [Sprint],” said the Australian.

“I just swapped the maps and felt pretty comfortable running that pace.

“Looking at the data, I squared off the [preceding] corner a little bit more than I did the lap before, and then kind of paused for the change of direction.

“Whether or not that made it load the front a little bit more, just that little bit more lean angle … but you’re on the limit around here and as soon as I tucked the front a little bit, I dug the elbow and everything in but there was no saving it.

“It was unfortunate and I’m very disappointed for the team and myself, but we’re working hard,” he added.

“A lot of guys crashed and you’re riding on a fine line around here, there’s zero forgiveness. For Alex [Rins] to run that pace all race, he rode a fantastic race and massive congratulations to him and the LCR team.”

Miller may have failed to put any points on the board in the feature race, but the former factory Ducati rider feels there are many positives to exploit with the KTM as he continues to make strides in his first season on the RC16.

“I’m having a ball and the bike’s getting better and better every session,” Miller said.

“I’m able to bring in my strengths on it in terms of braking and putting the bike a little bit sideways if I need it.

“And the power is there – here of all tracks – accelerating from first gear to top [on the back straight] and the bike is no slouch.

“There’s really not a lot of negatives, there’s a lot of positives there, so I have to say a massive thank you to the team for the good job they’ve done so far.”