Jack Miller identifies what went wrong at German MotoGP: "I started to suffer"

Jack Miller was left to rue a late-race drop in performance during the German MotoGP, as a switch in engine map settings coincided with rising tyre wear and fading acceleration, costing the Australian valuable positions in the closing laps.

Starting tenth on the grid, Miller made a strong getaway to run seventh and briefly led the Yamaha charge ahead of Fabio Quartararo.

But after being passed by the Frenchman on lap nine, the Pramac Yamaha rider began to slip backwards, ultimately finishing eighth after losing out to Luca Marini and Brad Binder in the final laps.

“It was a tricky race for everyone, especially with only one day of dry practice, so I‘m happy to have brought home some solid points,” said Miller.

“I had a decent start and managed to survive a messy first corner, then felt pretty comfortable on the bike after switching to Map 2.

“I was trying to catch Zarco and Quartararo early on, but around mid-race I started to struggle a bit too much.”

The turning point came eight laps from the finish.

“I switched to Map 3 - and suddenly, I started to suffer, especially on acceleration out of the last corner and through Turn 11.

“It might’ve been a combination of the map and the tyres, but from that point on, it was hard for me to do much.

“I tried to defend myself from Marini and Binder, but in the end, I had to let them go.”

Despite the late struggles, Miller took points in both the Sprint and the Grand Prix for the first time since Silverstone.

“Still, it‘s been a good weekend. It could have been a few more [points], but now it‘s time to focus on the next one.”

Miguel Oliveira crashes early at German MotoGP

Team-mate Miguel Oliveira had been the first of eight riders to crash out, losing the front under braking on lap 3 of 30.

“I just lost the front in the last corner,” he explained. “Raul Fernandez had overtaken me on turn 8, I came back on the inside and slightly lost contact with Marini, but I was catching up.

“I actually braked a little bit earlier, but I turned in like 3 degrees more and lost the front. Pretty strange crash and super early in the race, which makes it a bit disappointing.”

With only ten riders finishing the race, Oliveira was left frustrated at a missed opportunity.

“I feel like I lost some valuable points, especially looking at how many riders actually finished the race."

MotoGP now heads straight to Brno, where Oliveira is one of the few riders with recent track knowledge from a private Yamaha test.