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Jack Miller has been left befuddled after a sluggish run to eighth in the MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix.
With Ducatis locking out the top five as the field exited the opening corners at Sepang, Miller wasted little time passing the Yamaha of Fabio Quartararo for sixth, before the end of the standing lap.
However, that was as good as it got for the Red Bull KTM rider, who gradually drifted to a second behind Marco Bezzecchi before ceding sixth position back to Quartararo on Lap 12.
He was then being overtaken by the other Yamaha, of Franco Morbidelli, on the penultimate lap of 20 and would take the chequered flag 19.204s behind winner Enea Bastianini.
“Long old race,” said Miller.
“I didn’t quite have enough for those boys ahead and we’re scratching our heads a little bit because that time gap to the front is not ideal in a 20-lap race.
“I didn’t have any real issues or mistakes that cost me any time; it was just outright pace. So, we’re missing a little bit.
“I was hanging with Bezzecchi for a while but cooked the front tyre.
“We have some work to do and I will try to get better myself as well to see what we can maximise for Qatar and Valencia.”
Red Bull KTM Team Manager Francesco Guidotti said, “We were confident of a good race today after the way the weekend had gone and after the Sprint on Saturday but it did not happen.
“Brad [Binder] crashed and Jack was doing quite well but not what we were expecting.
“Both were complaining of the same problems so we have to be more focused on this matter.
“A strange day and we have to understand how we can be better for Qatar.”
Binder had been circulating in ninth position until he crashed out of the contest on Lap 12.
The South African recounted, “I had a good Warm Up session and felt really good but then just struggled in the race.
“It was hard to stop the bike and if I carried any corner speed then the front end would wash. It was a fight to stay clean and to try and pick guys off.
“Unfortunately, I just washed out in Turn 11 and there is not much more to say.
“We tried a few different things for the race today and with the heat and the grip level they didn’t really work. Lessons learned for Qatar and moving forward.”
A day earlier, Binder had finished fifth in the Sprint, one position ahead of Miller.
The former is virtually locked into fourth in the championship while his Australian team-mate is 10th, tied with Quartararo on 156 points but behind the Frenchman on a countback.
The Qatar Grand Prix takes place this coming weekend (November 17-19, local time) before the season finale in Valencia on the following weekend.
