KTM rider Jack Miller was left feeling “quite dumbfounded” after an incident with Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli forced them to retire from the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix.
Miller has endured a difficult start to 2024 with one top-five finish, whereas team-mate Brad Binder and rookie GasGas KTM rider Pedro Acosta have both featured on the rostrum.
Morbidelli heaped further misery upon Miller with an ambitious Turn 5 move on Lap 17 of the Spanish GP that resulted in both riders hitting the deck.
Miller gave further context to Autosport post-race on the accident which was deemed a racing incident by Freddie Spencer’s FIM MotoGP Stewards Panel.
“When Pedro [Acosta] came past, I tried to hook the claws in him, just to understand what he is doing differently, try and learn as much as possible,” said the 29-year-old.
“Unfortunately that got cut short when Franky decided he wanted to make a gap when there was no room.
“It resulted in us both having an early shower. So not the way we wanted to end the day.
“I don’t know if I’ve run over a black cat or we fell under a ladder or something at the minute, but we are struggling to get the bloody thing luck turning our way. But we will stick with it, we’ll keep on the programme.”
In the heat of the moment, Miller ran over to Morbidelli shortly after the coming together to give the Italian a piece of his mind, which drew further comment by the stewards.
“I didn’t really get a telling off,” he said. “I got a telling off more for my actions afterward. But I didn’t hit him, I didn’t punch him or anything like that.
“I was obviously crashed [into] and then Franky told me in the gravel what I do to him yesterday [Saturday].
“I was quite dumbfounded because I said, ‘look, I crashed out of the f*****g first lap yesterday so I don’t know what I could have done. I don’t know if he had me confused with somebody else.
“Anyway, it’s not what we wanted.”
Morbidelli explained that he wasn’t attempting to overtake Miller into Turn 5, more so that the contact was due to both rider’s racing lines once they were merged into the corner.
“It was an unfortunate race incident,” he said. “Jack was doing a different line. It was at the end of the race, but I was quite a bit faster than him. But I couldn’t pass him because Jack was braking very fast.
“In that corner, I didn’t even want to pass him, but the way he made the line. I thought I would go on for mine. In the end, we had contact. It was a shame.
When asked if he and Miller restored harmony following the race, the Italian replied: “The race was not going well for either of us, after you end up on the gravel it’s okay to be angry.”
