Jack Miller left a “sitting duck” in the Malaysian MotoGP

After being left to set ‘Bagger’ lap times due to wheelspin at the end of the Austrian MotoGP, Jack Miller was relegated to Moto2 performance levels as he became a “sitting duck” at Sepang.

Battling with grip all weekend, the Pramac Yamaha rider climbed to 15th and the final points position during the middle stages, before the worst of the wheelspin kicked in.

Miller was overtaken by the Ducatis of Pecco Bagnaia and Iker Lecuona, then the KTM of Maverick Vinales, as his lap time dropped from 2m 0.9s to 2m 6.4s. The best Moto2 lap on Sunday was a 2m 4.4s.

“It was a long, tough race. From start to finish, it was more about surviving than thriving,” said Miller, who took the chequered flag in last place.

“I had a couple of moments early on, and by around lap ten, when I saw the riders ahead pulling away, I could already feel that I was struggling a little more than them.

“I tried to manage things as best I could, both with my riding and the engine maps, but towards the end I was pretty much a sitting duck and couldn‘t do much more.

“Tyre wear was definitely a factor. The conditions were among the toughest we‘ve faced, and Turn 1 felt like an ice rink on every lap.

“The biggest issue for me was the huge difference in grip between the track surface and the kerbs, so you were constantly trying to use the kerbs to your advantage wherever possible.

“It was a really difficult situation out there.”

Factory Yamaha riders Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins finished 11th and 12th, while Augusto Fernandez, standing in for Miller's injured team-mate Toprak Razgatlioglu, crashed out on lap two.

After the Grand Prix, Yamaha announced that it will not attend next weekend's Qatar MotoGP due to ‘company-wide travel restrictions’.

Miller's final MotoGP appearances, before switching to WorldSBK, will therefore be at the season-ending Portimao and Valencia rounds.