“Take them off”: Jack Miller blames start devices for Hungary MotoGP crash chaos

Jack Miller has laid the blame on start devices for the turn one crash at the Hungary MotoGP.

Miller had been one of the riders to most clearly benefit from the turn one crash, which happened when Jorge Martin lost control in braking and took out four riders as well as himself.

Miller ended up riding much of the race in fourth place before he was eventually pushed back to seventh in the second half as the grip faded, and had been behind the crash when it happened, so saw it unfold in front of him.

In the Pramac Yamaha rider’s opinion, the crash happened because of the start devices.

“Jorge [Martin] trying to get the device out, bike jumped and then when it starts jumping it's difficult to make it stop,” Jack Miller said, in comments that opposed the view of Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola who put the crash down to a braking error committed by Martin.

“I've been saying all along, since Barcelona, since we saw two crashes at the first corner, the same sort of thing: take them [start devices] off, everybody's at the same level. 

“At the end of the day we're making an unnatural manoeuvre, especially here in Balaton where turn one was quite slippery with the new asphalt, that you weren't even really able – without locking the front – to really get that transfer, not enough transfer to unlock the devices. 

“So, another device related crash I believe. 

“Everybody's even, we need to, you know, we're all arriving here in Balaton probably an extra 15-20kph faster and then doing an unnatural braking manoeuvre. 

“We take off the front device, it makes everybody's life easier and everybody is in the same boat. 

“We're all in the same boat at the moment, except the boat is going 30kph faster.”

The new asphalt at turn one had been a concern since Friday for the riders. Miller says that they had spoken to MotoGP about it, but that they were not informed of the work by the track.

“The guys explained to us, you know, it was not to their knowledge that the track was being resurfaced there,” Miller said, echoing comments from Luca Marini.

“You know, it's a little bit close to grand prix. Obviously the track [is] trying to do what they can to fix it, but unfortunately, you know, asphalt takes time to bed in and they didn't have enough time.”

Since it is largely a time issue with the surface, Miller indicated he would not object to returning to Balaton next year, even if it seems more likely that a 2027 Hungary race would take place at the Hungaroring, pending some changes that need to be made to that circuit, which has long been the host of the Hungarian F1 race.

“I mean, turn one beds in, I think the rest of the track is okay,” Miller said of a potential return to Balaton.

“I mean, at the end of the day, it's a different style of circuit. 

“After we've been in Mugello and Barcelona, this is a change of pace, but at the end of the day, it's a world championship and we need to cover all bases. 

“So, I think on the safety side, the track is not too bad, it's tight and technical, for sure, but on the safety side, it's okay.”