Jorge Lorenzo has slammed Jack Miller for a cavalier attitude to safety and claimed that his horrifying practice crash was a warning to the Australian.
Miller somehow escaped serious injury after losing control of his Marc VDS Honda exiting the high-speed Turn 1 during Free Practice 4 which carted him heavily into the wall nearly head-on.
While the 22-year-old hit his head on the wall, Miller was cleared to return to the track for Qualifying 2 just over half an hour later.
Lorenzo highlighted the incident after the pair apparently clashed verbally during the safety commission meeting on the Friday night.
The three-time MotoGP world champion was one of the three-rider minority to vote against switching the front tyre construction back to the harder Michelin carcass which had been used at the end of the 2016 season.
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It has been reported that Miller said “Opinions are like arseholes, everybody has one” towards Lorenzo in response to the criticism.
Lorenzo expressed his disapproval of Miller’s behaviour when asked about the crash, and hoped that the incident would temper what the Spaniard believes to be an irresponsible attitude to safety.
“Yesterday in the safety commission he gave a really rude response,” Lorenzo claimed after Saturday’s qualifying sessions.
“He basically told me to shove my opinion up my arse, or something like that. Very rude.
“I think that’s something you shouldn’t say to any rider in front of the others, and certainly not to a five-time world champion.
“I think that today God picked him up and said, ‘Today isn’t the day you get hurt’.
“It was a similar crash to the one (Marc) Marquez had at Mugello in 2013.
“It gave him a warning that MotoGP is no joke. It’s now up to him if he takes this advice onboard or not.
“In my opinion, (Miller) is one of the riders that that doesn’t pay enough attention to the risk involved.
“He plays with it, and isn’t as conscious of the risks of riding these bikes (as he should be).
“But this is for him and he will know what to do.”
Miller, who qualified 11th for today’s race, confirmed that while he was not seriously injured, he did feel the effects of the shunt during qualifying.
“I was happy to get back on the bike for qualifying after not feeling 100 percent after the crash in FP4,” Miller explained.
“It was a nasty crash and I’m lucky to walk away with just some bruises.
“I had some locking on the front through Turn 1 which sent me towards the wall and when I saw I wasn’t going to stop in time, I let go before I hit the wall.
“In Q2, I went quicker on my first run but my hand was not perfect after the crash and I struggled to stop the bike on the brakes in the final corner and touched the kerb,” he continued, referring to the cause of his second fall of the day.
“A shame but I’ll be ready for the race after I get some ice on my hand and knee to get the swelling down.”
Tonight’s French Grand Prix gets underway at 2200 AEST.
VIDEO: Jack Miller escapes huge shunt at Le Mans
One of the worst crashes you’re ever likely to see… 😳@jackmilleraus is one tough guy! #FrenchGP pic.twitter.com/S13h4U31FQ
— #FrenchGP (@btsportmotogp) May 20, 2017
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