Jack Miller thinks that ‘one of his smarter races’ was critical to him securing his third podium finish of the season in the Aragon Grand Prix.
The one-time premier class race winner moved into second after dispatching of Fabio Quartararo on the opening lap and initially tried to close down runaway leader Marquez, but quickly gave up with this plan and focussed on securing the runners-up position.
He would later lose out to Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales and factory Ducati man Andrea Dovizioso and slip to fourth though as he continued to play the waiting game.
Miller was then able to re-snatch third from the struggling Vinales as the pair started the final lap, and successfully held off a final challenge from the Spaniard to hold the position to the line.
Miller explained that he decided to stay ‘calm’ and let the race play out, something he feels was a crucial factor in re-gaining his podium position on the final lap.
“I feel I rode one of the smarter races of my career for another third, it would have been nice to get another step up but it was nice to see Dovizioso up here from tenth, I’m really happy to see two Ducati’s on the box,” said Miller.
“I didn’t feel amazing at the start of the race, once I got past Fabio I tried to go for about three corners after (Marc) Marquez but it wasn’t happening as he was on another level so I thought I’d better calm down as it was such a long race.
“Luckily I was able to keep calm and after (Maverick) Vinales got past I thought I’d watch to see what he could do, I could see he was going for it and knew he was on the hard.
“He was pushing really hard through Turn 10, and eventually that became his downfall as through there I was taking chunks of time out of him every lap towards the end.
“I nearly threw it away on the second to last lap into the chicane as I went across the kerbs it kicked up on me and I nearly went straight on.
“This is a track I haven’t done particularly well at in the past so it’s awesome to be on the podium here, I’m super excited to start the flyaway’s like this it’s my favourite time of the year as I can go home and see the family before Thailand, so it’s an awesome way to head home.”
The Aussie has had a competitive but somewhat frustrating sophomore campaign with the Pramac Ducati squad, with several crashes having prevented further strong results earlier in the year.
He was in contention for the second factory Ducati seat alongside Dovizioso, but lost out to Danilo Petrucci as the Italian scored his first MotoGP victory at Mugello and became a title contender.
Things have somewhat turned in recent races however as Petrucci has began to struggle for speed since the summer break, with Miller having closed to 38 points behind him with his podium.
Much of the points gap between the duo has come from Miller’s four retirements, compared to Petrucci who has scored in every round so far.
