Jack Miller punished for ‘smoke riding’ in Austrian MotoGP practice

Jack Miller has been fined €1,000 and barred from taking part in the opening five minutes of Saturday’s practice session at the Austrian MotoGP following a Friday incident with his Pramac Yamaha.

The sanction was issued after Miller continued circulating on the racing line despite smoke coming from the rear of his YZR-M1 during the afternoon session.

The FIM MotoGP Stewards deemed the Australian to have breached several articles of the sporting regulations relating to rider responsibility and safe return to the pits.

Fabio Quartararo and Miller’s team-mate Miguel Oliveira later crashed, at the same Turn 6, possibly due to fluid on the track.

While it has not been confirmed that the fluid originated from Miller’s machine, Quartararo said:

“I don't know why I crashed, if it was oil or something else, but I did see the marshals put something on the track [to soak up fluid], so for sure there was something there.”

The Frenchman’s incident brought out red flags to repair an air fence, by which time Oliveira was also trudging through the gravel trap.

Oliveira said: "My crash was a really strange one, I was really surprised. I saw the orange panel with yellow stripes on the inside of Turn 5 and I was already heading to the pits, so I slowed down even more. 

"I saw debris from Fabio‘s bike, stayed on the inside, and suddenly I was down."

Stewards’ ruling

According to an official statement from the FIM MotoGP Stewards, the incident began when Miller encountered a technical problem at Turn 1, then:

'You continued at slow speed around the circuit on the racing line at times, with smoke periodically emitting from the motorcycle, and in particular at Turn 4 you had clear visibility of this.

'You further continued for the remainder of the lap before entering the pitlane.'

The stewards said this contravened specific instructions to MotoGP riders, citing:

Article 1.21.2 - Riders must ride in a responsible manner which does not cause danger to other competitors or participants.

Article 1.21.6 - Riders must not tour slowly to the pits with a terminal problem but should pull off the track and park in a safe place.

Article 1.21.7 - Riders returning slowly to the pits for remedial work should keep as far off the racing line as possible.

Although no Black Flag with Orange Disc was shown, the Stewards stressed that the “burden of responsibility remains with the rider” in such situations.

As a result, Miller will sit out the first five minutes of Saturday’s FP2 and pay a €1,000 fine.

Jack Miller: "There was no oil"

Miller, who was eventually classified 20th, said: "I went into Turn 1 and it was like a seize, but then I pulled the clutch in and it kept idling. I was looking, and it only smoked when I shut the gas, so I rode it back to the box.

"There was no oil. I was out of the line, trying to avoid the line everywhere, but I was looking the whole time for oil. Couldn't see anything.

"I tried to get back to the box because of the front tyre quantity. I didn't want to have it go cold and not be able to use it again with 26 minutes to go.

"An eventful day."