The Sprint Race at the GP MotoGP of Qatar was disastrous for Jack Miller. Prima Pramac Yamaha pilot finished only 19th, after opting for the wrong tire.
The Australian admitted his error by choosing a tender rear tire, expecting it to offer good grip longer: ‘Bad decision on my part. I thought I was going to have eight or nine laps, I had about four, with the old tender [pneu]but I tried. We had to try something, it was going to be tight. I did a tour on Friday, and I knew it was going to be difficult at the end – but I did not realize that it was going to be so bad. He fell like a cliff early. It’s just this compound with the cooler temperature, I don’t like it very much, and this track, I don’t know if it was sand or other … But it was worth trying to try’.
Commenting on the race, Miller said: ‘I had a good start, but then I tried a little to be conservative and stay tight at turn 1 and I found myself a little stuck. So, I haven’t really won too many positions there, but I won some in the first round. And then there were a little chaos: this group, [Luca] Marini, [Ai] Ogura, je pense que peco [Bagnaia] was even inside’.
However, once he caught up his rivals, #43 began to fight and lose in performance: ‘I felt comfortable, I found my rhythm and I filled the gap with them a little. And, almost as soon as I was in Marini’s wake, I fell back to the back of the group, I just started to suffer at the entrance. It was just as if it slipped and slipped everywhere. I just tried to manage it as best I could, but that was everything. But as I said, it was worth the risk, honestly I thought we would get a little more of that’.
