Jack Miller: “All hell broke loose” during British MotoGP, “devastated for Fabio”

Jack Miller broke a six-race points drought with a "dogfight" to seventh at the British MotoGP.

Heartbreak for Fabio Quartararo, forced to retire from the lead with a ride-height device failure, meant Miller was also the top Yamaha at the chequered flag.

Quartararo and Miller made full use of their soft front tyres to hold first and second in the early stages of the restarted race.

But while the Frenchman broke away to a near five-second lead by the time of his retirement, Miller was swallowed by the chasing pack and had to fight tooth and nail.

“I tried to go a similar pace to Fabio at the beginning, but to be honest, I understood after probably 3-4 laps that wasn't going to be feasible for the duration of the race,” Miller said.

“Just because of the way I was having to carry corner speed and force the front tyre to turn the bike through corners like Turn 5, I was really using a lot of the edge.

“But I was able to switch my lines to kind of cut through the wind a little bit more, and that was better.”

After dropping to sixth in the middle stages, Miller climbed back up to fourth behind eventual third-place finisher Marc Marquez heading into the final laps.

But they weren’t alone.

Jack Miller: “All hell broke loose”

“I kind of settled in comfy there behind Marc. Then, with about four laps to go, I could see Marc's pace dropped a little bit," Miller said.

“I was just sizing up where I could maybe make a move on him and right at that moment, Morbidelli came through and then all hell broke loose with myself, him, and Alex [Marquez].

“I was trying to do what I could to keep those boys at bay. But it's tough when you get into that sort of dogfight. We've got a really strong package, but we've got to ride our lines and keep the momentum up.

“If anything upsets that mid-corner, whether it be having to park it, block pass or whatever, it's hard to get that momentum going again. You need a little bit of time to regroup and bounce back.

“Whereas they're able to park it, squirt it, and not lose all that much time. So we'll work on that.”

Miller crossed the finish line 1.4s from the Marquez-Morbidelli podium battle, and just a few tenths ahead of Luca Marini (Honda).

“Devastated for Fabio Quartararo”

While Miller’s nine points were welcome for Yamaha, Fabio Quartararo had been firmly on course for the manufacturer’s first MotoGP victory since 2022.

“Obviously devastated for Fabio,” Miller said. “I mean, today, he had it in his pocket. He was gone like the wind. There wasn’t much I could do!”

Asked where Quartararo had found that red-hot pace, the Australian replied:

“I think, following the Ducatis, they seemed to be struggling a little bit more to maybe turn through the wind than we were. Obviously, that's the downside to having that many wings on the bike.

“Then, with that soft front tyre, Fabio was able to just push from the beginning. He knew where his marks were and rode within his comfort zone. Today, his comfort zone was that step in front of everybody else.”

Having a clear track ahead also meant the Frenchman avoided the momentum-killing battles that Miller was involved in.

“Exactly, a clear track, so you can brake where you need to brake, carry the corner speed, and ride the bike how you need to ride it,” he said.

Silverstone was the second grand prix in a row where Yamaha had a chance of winning, after Miller crashed out early in the wet Le Mans race while ten seconds clear of eventual winner Johann Zarco.

“We're pleasantly surprised [Yamaha is fighting for wins already], but at the same time, we’ll keep working to make this thing better,” Miller said.

“We've come forwards in leaps and bounds and obviously the progress isn't always going to be that rapid, but like I've said all along, the bones of the bike are good and we're slowly but surely improving it. We're on the way.”

Quartararo’s factory team-mate Alex Rins was the next-best Yamaha in 14th, with Miller’s Pramac team-mate Miguel Oliveira finishing 16th.