Michelin responds to Miller rant

Michelin has apparently responded to Jack Miller’s post-qualifying rant at MotoGP’s Grand Prix of the Americas.

Miller unloaded after going from fastest by seven tenths in Free Practice 3 to only 10th on the grid, saying he was “getting f**king sick of it.”

The Ducati Lenovo Team rider did not specifically identify Michelin or tyres as the issue, but his explanation left little doubt about what had upset him.

Michelin’s end-of-day Tyre Tech Notes similarly do not name names, but refer to “one complaint after Q2”, from a rider who completed a single time attack lap on their second run, which one can only reasonably suspect is Miller.

The French tyre supplier cited the fact that this rider’s out lap on their second run was 20 seconds slower than normal, which “could” explain the loss of temperature and pressure which would affect lap speed.

“The riders were heavily focused on the bumps in the circuit today, and slightly less on the feel of the tyres,” read the release.

“This produced different comments and they varied from motorcycle to motorcycle and from rider to rider.

“What we know for sure is that the Hard front is the best solution for racing because it has good grip and good support under braking. The Medium front has not been tested very much, so far.

“Regarding the rear options, all compounds are still possibilities for the race. The Soft showed very good potential, especially in warm-up and on the left side.

“The Medium gives good grip, but ensures better stability, while the Hard could also be a good choice because of its performance in terms of stability and consistency.

“There was one complaint after Q2, but based on the immediately available data we note that there was a 20-second slower out-lap than normal for the 2nd run, so any perceived lack of performance could be attributed to the subsequent reduction in tyre temperature and pressure (which we need to confirm later after detailed data analysis) for the single time-attack lap.

“In addition, the biggest contribution to the lap time appeared to be the loss of eight tenths of a second in Sector 2. Run 1 was similar to Pecco’s first run in terms of lap times.”

‘Pecco’ is, of course, Francesco Bagnaia, Miller’s team-mate, who so happened to grab pole by a margin of more than three tenths of a second.

Regardless of his lowly starting position, Miller is still a potential race winner, according to Marc Marquez, who joins Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo on the front row.

Race start at the Circuit of The Americas takes place on Monday at 06:00 AEDT.