Jack Miller came very close to reaching the podium at the Thai GP today, but in the end he was unable to hold on and ended up crossing the finish line in fifth. Trying to get away from the pack at the start of the race led to extra wear and tear on the tires, which was felt in the end.
The KTM rider said of his race: ‘A long race with 26 laps in the wet. The first few were tricky obviously after starting from 15th, and I didn’t have the best of starts either, with a bit of a problem with the front [holeshot] device, and the water splashing was a mess and I was trying to avoid that and the carnage, with a lot of guys losing the rear, with a few moments’.
Miller went on to talk about the moment he moved into the top three and how his front tire was already in a very bad way: ‘Then the group split a bit and I ended up finding my way forward and staying there, in fourth and then there was Marc’s [Márquez] crash and I went down to third. I was suffering a lot with the front of the bike there from the middle of the race, after ten laps with the front tire already cooked’.
He still tried his best, but to no avail: ‘From then on all my speed disappeared and then three laps from the end I had nothing left in the middle of the tire and I was being hunted down. I tried to throw everything I had at the track to stay on the podium, but it wasn’t meant to be. It was a good race’.
The Australian believes that the early stages of the race may have been a determining factor in him not achieving a better result, and he regretted missing out on a podium that was very close: ‘The pace was good, consistent, just in the first few laps I was trying to get away from the middle of the pack and that put more stress on the tire but then I was able to do my lines and it was ok. I really wanted the podium but it wasn’t meant to be’.