A race of what could have been for Miller in Assen
Monday, 27 June 2022
The Australian almost found himself on the podium.
Jack Miller will be walking away from the Dutch TT, wondering what could have been after another long-lap penalty and costly mistake on the second last lap.
Millers weekend started to go downhill in Qualifying after a crash at Turn 5 in Q2 resulted in a long-lap penalty.
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After the crash in Q2, the Australian was able to get back onto his damaged bike and continue back to the pits. Unfortunately, in doing so, he got in the way of Maverick Viñales.
“There’s a lot of track there, but I understand the racing line sort of pulls you out that way to the left, but there’s not much more I could do,” said Miller after the incident.
The Ducati rider apologised to the Spaniard, though he is adamant that he “couldn’t have done much more to get out of the way”.
In the race, Miller started in the sixth position and fell back to 10th after serving the long-lap penalty.
Miller showed determination to get back through the field and eventually found himself in P4.
On the second-last lap, Miller made a costly error bringing Brad Binder and Aleix Espargaro into the battle for fourth place.
The final chicane on the last lap saw Esparagaro move up the inside catching the Aussie off guard and was forced wide.
After the race, Miller reflected on the weekend: “I take full responsibility for that. I copped a handlebar to the elbow and I had nowhere to go, got pushed wide.”
“I felt like I was stronger than the guys around me at the end of the race, I was able to manage the soft tyre really well until the end, and that gives me confidence at least because the last two races I've been strong at the end.”
“But rewind a lap and I'm thinking it could be another podium… so sixth – yeah, a tough one.”
MotoGP™ now moves into its mid-season break and returns for the British MotoGP™ on 7 August.
Fantastic effort, @jackmilleraus 👏
— Australian MotoGP™ (@ausmotogp) June 27, 2022
Sixth at the #DutchGP was a strong result given the long-lap penalty 💪#MotoGP pic.twitter.com/5SJ20q1vrq
