Joan Mir calls Jack Miller “out of control” for Aragon MotoGP incident

Jack Miller was “completely out of control” when he tried to pass Joan Mir in the incident that ended the factory Honda rider’s Aragon MotoGP Sprint, according to the Spaniard.

Honda HRC Castrol rider Mir didn’t say too much about the incident after the race because he felt he wasn’t in the position to explain how it happened.

His only opinion was that Miller “was completely out of control”.

“It would be better to ask him [Miller] what happened,” Joan Mir said after the Sprint.

“The consequence of his actions was my DNF, I could not complete the race because of this action.

“He was completely out of control, we touched, and I went straight [towards] the wall, I had to brake in the gravel and then I crashed.

“I know the consequence, but I don’t know the reason why.

“I will not get more deeply into it because I will let you judge the action and the penalty, if it’s fair enough, and that’s it.”

Mir also disagreed with the single long lap penalty that Miller received for the incident, believing instead that the penalty for committing the offence should be stronger than the offence itself.

“I think that they [Race Direction] should understand a little bit because, on TV they didn’t show the manoeuvre, but in Race Direction they have [cameras] in every position [so they can see] what happened,” Mir said when asked about the penalty Miller received.

“Honestly, after the race I went there with Alberto [Puig, Honda HRC Castrol team manager] to understand a little bit [their] way to approach these types of actions, and I was honestly surprised and upset because the wall was very close and due to this action he lost his race.”

He continued: “There was no reason to do that manoeuvre [but] he did it, he destroyed my race, and he only got a long lap [penalty].

“For me, it’s not enough in these type of actions, but I don’t know. We will see what can be a harder punishment, because harder than the overtake that I got is difficult.”

Miller: “It’s f*cking hard to race around here”

When Jack Miller spoke after the race, he was accepting of the penalty, agreeing that he made a mistake, but said the track conditions were a factor.

“Not the best Sprint race but not the worst,” the Pramac Yamaha rider said.

“I had a good feeling, the bike was working well.

“Unfortunately, [there was] the contact with Joan [Mir] early on. I had what I felt was better pace than the guys around me, I was trying to make moves forward, it was very ‘follow the leader’ there on the first lap.

“When I went into turn 12 I was trying to make the pass, I was very strong there on the brakes, but I had to go a little tighter than I’d anticipated and basically here as soon as you get out of the line there’s no grip.

“The bike went to about 90 degrees; I was sliding, trying to do everything I [could] to avoid contact with Joan, but unfortunately we touched.

“When we touched, my bike grabbed grip and put me out.”

When asked if the penalty he received for the incident was deserved, Miller agreed with it.

“Well, I f*cked up, I made contact,” he said.

“There was a gap there, I was trying to make it work, but as soon as I got in the dirty sh*t…

“I caused another guy to crash – okay, he fell off in the gravel, but this was my mistake.”

Miller not only felt that he deserved a penalty, but agreed with the sanction he received.

“I think Puig [Honda HRC Castrol Team Manager] and Joan were [at the Stewards’ office] and upset, saying that the punishment should’ve been more, but from what I understood it’s a scale, like a build-up thing,” he said.

“It’s a first offence for me this season, and it was a legitimate overtaking opportunity – from all the cameras you can see I was close and trying to overtake; I was not anticipating to have this massive slide on the dirty stuff.

“It’s f*cking hard to race around here.”

Miller added that the experience of failing the pass on Mir meant he was able to avoid the same contact with Johann Zarco later in the race.

“I made the exact same pass work with Zarco later on in the race,” he said, “because I had this experience with Mir I was anticipating the massive slide that was coming when I crossed to the dirty stuff.

“I was ready for it, had the massive slide, caught it, lost the front a bit and Zarco was there, but it put me close enough to pass him in the last corner on the inside.”

Quotes gathered by Crash.net MotoGP Editor Peter McLaren.