Jack Miller slams “not valid” penalty, claims “no consistency” from MotoGP stewards

Pramac’s Jack Miller has raged at his “not valid” penalty for a collision with Fermin Aldeguer in the MotoGP Valencia Grand Prix sprint, and says the stewards are inconsistent.

The Australian was told to drop three spots after making contact with Fermin Aldeguer at Turn 2 during Saturday’s sprint, which he says he chose to ignore as it was “ridiculous”.

Because of this, the FIM stewards then converted his punishment to a long lap, which lost him three spots anyway, with Jack Miller 12th behind Aldeguer at the chequered flag.

In a fiery outburst during his media debrief on Saturday evening in Valencia, Miller tore into the penalty and what he felt was “dodgem” riding by Aldeguer.

“I could see the dashboard, but three positions at that point when you are two seconds in front of the next bike is kind of ridiculous,” he said.

“So, I was not going to do it. And then when the long lap came, I understood that a long lap can go into tomorrow’s grand prix, so it was better to do it.

“I lost three positions anyway, so you be the judge.”

He added: “The penalty is not, in my opinion, valid. It’s impossible to pass someone if they release the brakes on top of you.

“I passed him already once in the last corner. He continued to ride over my front tyre. We exited onto the straight together, but of course, the bike is a rocket ship.

“So, he goes away. I spend the next lap and a half deciding when to make the best move.

“I got the best possible drive I could out of Turn 1 into Turn 2. I had everything under control, and as soon as I got side by side with him, he started to release.

“I then had to go tighter and tighter and tighter. At some point, you're going to make contact because we’re both releasing the brakes.

“The smart move, if he believed he was going to pass me back, would be to release the brake and cut under.

“But if you ride like this, you are forcing contact and it’s not correct.

“Then you take wings off a rider last week, you T-bone me last week [in Portugal], and nothing. And then this week you force the contact and I get the penalty.”

When asked if he felt Aldeguer’s riding was because he is a rookie, Miller said this was a trend among younger riders.

“No, it’s the new generation,” he explained.

“That’s the style of riding. There are multiple guys on the grid who do it, generally younger guys.

“But if you continue to turn in over the top of somebody when somebody is initiating the pass, contact is inevitable.

“Look back through the years, in terms of what they’ve done. It’s not even a game of chicken: it’s the law of physics.”

Consistency “is not there” from stewards, says Miller

Miller declined to go to his stewards meeting on Saturday, but took exception to what he feels was a lack of consistency in how penalties have been assessed recently.

“I didn’t go to the stewards meeting, because better I don’t,” he added.

“And I’m sure I will speak with Simon [Crafar, chief steward] at a later date, which is better for both of us.

“We make that easy. Like I said, I’m trying to do the best I can on a bike that’s underpowered, you cannot pass.

“When you make a clean pass, they make it more difficult by releasing the brakes and trying to ride over your front tyre. This is not racing. This is dodgem cars at the end.

“If you look at consistency: what happened with [Brad] Binder [after Aldeguer contact] last week? Not one penalty.

“What happened with me last week? Not one penalty. So, speaking about consistency is not even fucking remotely in the picture.

“I get banned for 10 minutes of a session, because my bike is smoking.

“And we let a bike compete nearly half the grand prix smoking and win the grand prix [in Japan with Pecco Bagnaia]. I get a €3000 fine for the same thing. Consistency is not there; it’s clear.”

Miller was actually banned for five minutes of FP2 in Austria and fined €1000 for riding with a smoking engine on Friday at the Red Bull Ring.