Jack Miller “had to reinvent my riding” after engine braking drama

Jack Miller revealed that an engine-braking issue in the Czech MotoGP at Brno cost him dearly in the closing laps.

The Pramac Yamaha rider swiftly climbed from tenth to eighth at the start, then spent the majority of the race behind the Aprilia of returning reigning world champion Jorge Martin.

But the late mechanical issue left him vulnerable under braking at Turn 3, sapping Miller's ability to defend and triggering a slide to 11th at the finish.

“It was a long and tough race. I had a decent start, better than in the Sprint, and was feeling pretty good,” Miller said.

“We were very conservative, not being completely sure about the tyres. I found a good rhythm behind Jorge [Martin], and everything was fine until about seven laps from the end.

“I changed the engine brake setting, and pretty much at the same time, I started to struggle in Turn 3.

“The clutch was kind of binding up, basically not giving me any engine braking. It was even difficult to tell which gear I was in, as you couldn’t really feel the downshifts."

Miller lost out to Brad Binder, Fermin Aldeguer, and finally Pol Espargaro on the last lap.

However, Aldeguer’s three-second post-race penalty then promoted all three riders one place, restoring Miller to tenth in the final classification.

“I had been able to brake pretty late to defend against overtaking moves,” Miller explained.

“But once the issue started, I had to leave some margin and became vulnerable to Brad and Pol catching me.

“I'm not happy with the last three laps, but it is what it is."

Miller, who leaves Brno 14th in the standings, now turns his focus to the Suzuka 8 Hours in August, during the MotoGP summer break.

Team-mate Miguel Oliveira, who dropped to 18th after the move for which Aldeguer was later punished, crossed the line in 17th.

Fabio Quartararo was the top Yamaha in sixth place.