Jack Miller fears Qatar will set a precedent: “Everyone knows where we’re heading!”
منتشرشده: · بهروزرسانی: · ایران
In Saturday’s sprint race, Jack Miller caused a bit of a stir when the Pramac rider headed for the pits to change his motorbike, only to find that his replacement machine wasn’t ready yet.
In Saturday’s sprint race, Jack Miller caused a bit of a stir when the Pramac rider headed for the pits to change his motorbike, only to find that his replacement machine wasn’t ready yet. In Sunday’s Grand Prix, the Australian was spared such an embarrassment, albeit for a different reason: ‘Jackass’ spent most of Sunday’s race in the lower reaches of the field and finished in 16th place when the chequered flag fell.
The frustration after the race was unmistakable for the man with number 43: “I had no grip from the start to the finish of the race, and in the first corner it was like riding on black ice. I tried out several engine mappings until Pecco Bagnaia overtook me.” Miller had initially managed to leave the Italian behind on the ninth lap. “Towards the end of the race, I was easy prey; there was nothing left for me to gain.” Miller’s position was the lowest among the classified riders, and the outgoing MotoGP rider was unable to score any points.
However, the dominant topic in Malaysia was also the upcoming MotoGP event in Qatar. The political situation in the Middle East remains very tense. There is immense resistance amongst the riders to holding the race weekend at the Lusail International Circuit. Miller: “Nineteen of us don’t want to race there; I don’t want to race there either. If you speak to half the people in the paddock, they don’t want to be there either.” The 31-year-old articulated the fears prevailing amongst riders and team members: “Everyone knows where we’ll be at a certain time. We can’t hide where we are if, for example, someone wants to make an example of us.”
Jack Miller: “They shouldn’t be allowed to force us to race where we don’t want to race”
Time is running out: “My flight leaves tomorrow. We’ve kept quiet until now, but we’ve made our views clear and have joined forces as best we can. We’ll have to wait and see what decision comes of this.” The ten-time race winner also expressed his fear of sanctions from the organisers against the premier class riders: “They can target us financially and in sporting terms – for example, through our racing licences – and I don’t want my team to suffer any disadvantages either. But they shouldn’t be allowed to force us to race where we don’t want to. Organising an event with global reach at a venue like that isn’t wise. If anyone believes it’s safe and that we should race there, then that person should put their name to it.”
Two hours after the chequered flag fell in Malaysia, Yamaha announced it would skip the Qatar Grand Prix due to the unstable situation in the Middle East. This applies to both the factory team and Pramac – Jack Miller and Toprak Razgatlioglu are directly under contract with Yamaha and both riders have factory bikes from the Japanese manufacturer. Consequently, at least Fabio Quartararo, Alex Rins and Miller will not be competing in Qatar. Toprak Razgatlioglu had to end his season early anyway due to his shoulder injury.