Jack Miller will undergo an MRI scan after struggling with shoulder pain during Styrian Grand Prix qualifying following a crash in FP3 on Saturday morning at the Red Bull Ring.
The Pramac racer tumbled through the gravel trap on the outside of Turn 6 while trying to solidify a spot in Q2 at the end of the session, but tucked the font of his Ducati early into the bend-sliding off into the gravel as a result.
Miller was visibly angry following the incident having quickly risen to his feet, although his previous time during FP3 was enough to ultimately see him progress directly to the pole shootout on Saturday afternoon.
He managed to qualify a strong fifth-just 0.120 down on pole-man Pol Espargaro’s KTM- but due to suffering substantial discomfort in his shoulder during the session decided to take a trip to the local hospital for an MRI scan to check for any potential shoulder injury.
Should Miller be declared unfit to compete in the Styrian contest his Pramac team will head into the race without either of their full-season entrants, as team-mate Francesco Bagnaia remains on the sidelines following a shoulder injury of his own during FP1 for the Czech GP at Brno two weeks ago.
Michele Pirro would therefore be the team’s only challenger should Miller not make the race, the Ducati test rider managing 15th on the grid after Johann Zarco’s pit-lane start is taken into account.
Miller would join Zarco as the second freshly-injured rider heading into the Styrian encounter, the Avintia racer having fractured the scaphoid in his right wrist as a result of his violent crash with Franco Morbidelli during last weeks Austrian GP.
The Frenchman underwent surgery to install some screws into his wrist on Wednesday, forcing him to miss all Friday running before finally being cleared to return to action on Saturday, where he qualified an excellent third before the pit-lane start penalty he picked up due to his part in the crash was enforced.
