Miller’s Lap 17 spill, unseen by television cameras, occurred at Turn 11, the right-hander which marks the start of the Garage Bleu complex on the Bugatti Circuit.
It made for an unproductive weekend for the Australian, whose championship points haul totalled just the two he earned from finishing eighth in the Sprint.
“Our pace over the weekend was good, especially on used tyres, but in the Sprint and main race I struggled with rear grip,” he said.
“The crash was really strange because I didn’t do anything different.
“I braked in the same spot and was only 1km/h faster than on the previous lap and it certainly wasn’t the fastest I’d been there during the whole race.
“It’s a head-scratcher. A disappointing end to the weekend but we will not stop working.”
Red Bull KTM Team Manager Francesco Guidotti had one theory, though.
“Jack suddenly crashed out of 11th and he had not made a mistake,” said Guidotti.
“Maybe it was the increased wind this afternoon.”
Ironically, the best result for the KTM/GasGas quartet in the Le Mans Race was produced by the rider who started at the very back of the grid.
Brad Binder finished eighth after qualifying 22nd in a 22-bike field and had already overtaken Miller, who started 11th, by the time #43 hit the deck.
“I got a really good start today but I wanted more from the race because I could see sixth place right in front of me,” said Binder.
“Anyway, we came from a long way back so I cannot complain.
“Also, we made a really big step from yesterday’s Sprint race to today: I felt a lot better, more confident and was able to ride.
“I think we’ve got some work to do still but considering where we were on the grid we cannot be too upset today.”
Rookie Pedro Acosta recorded the first ‘zero’ of his MotoGP career when he crashed his GasGas Tech3 entry on Lap 3 while in a battle for fourth.
He is now sixth in the championship, ahead of Binder in seventh, Miller in 13th, GasGas’s Augusto Fernandez in 17th, and KTM test rider Dani Pedrosa in 21st.
Round 6 takes place at Catalunya on May 24-26.
Discussion about this post