Jack Miller “launched to the moon” in Q2, “tear-off” slide in Sprint

An “up and down” day at the Sachsenring ended with Jack Miller matching his best race result of the season in the wet German MotoGP Sprint.

Qualifying began disastrously for the Pramac Yamaha rider when he was launched into a highside at the same corner where, shortly before, Maverick Vinales suffered a dislocated shoulder.

“It was an up-and-down day,” Jack Miller said. “In Q2, I went out on the medium rear, as the rain was starting to come down a bit more.

“I was trying to get the right-hand side of the tyre working, but coming out of Turn 3, as I changed direction and loaded the left side… The bike just launched me to the moon.”

Fortunately, Miller escaped injury and was able to salvage ninth on the grid with his spare bike.

“I sprinted back to the box and jumped on the other bike, which was a bit of a compromise, basically a dry setup with soft springs, the wrong linkage and wheelbase,” he revealed.

“It was super slippery, but I managed to get a few laps in and secure a spot on the third row.”

The Sprint race saw further drama moments after the red lights went out.

“I got off the line pretty well, but then I hit a tear-off on the ground,” Miller said. “The bike slid, I lost all the acceleration and dropped a few positions. So in the early laps, I had to push hard to make up ground.”

The Australian was back to where he had started, in ninth, by the end of the opening lap.

“I passed Bagnaia, Zarco, then Binder and Alex Márquez, and started working my way towards Diggia and Acosta,” he said.

“I could match their pace but couldn‘t quite close the gap.

“In the end, I just focused on nursing the tyre to avoid overheating and brought it home in fifth - which is a solid result.”

The result matched Miller‘s best of the season so far, at COTA.

Monster Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo finished on the Sprint MotoGP podium in third, with Miller’s team-mate Miguel Oliveira in eleventh and Alex Rins in 15th.