Miller satisfied with sixth at Mugello

Jack Miller was left satisfied by finishing sixth in the Italian Grand Prix in light of his struggles at Mugello last weekend and in previous MotoGP seasons.

The Queenslander had won the preceding two races of the current campaign but arrived at the Tuscan circuit with a record of just one point from his five premier class starts there.

Mugello in 2021 was also not especially kind to Miller, who had not the pace to ride with the leading pack and who only made retaliatory passes or had positions handed to him by crashes.

However, he did bank 10 championship points for his efforts on a day when he could quite easily have left empty-handed.

“I struggled with the wind and I felt I was forcing things a little bit at the beginning, and I needed to take a lap or two to slow down and gather myself to see what I could do,” wrote the Ducati Team rider in his regular post-round column.

“I dropped a couple of spots and probably lost too much time at the beginning and my pace picked up the longer it went, but the guys in front were just a bit too quick for me.

“To be honest, my main goal was leaving with some points, and while that sounds like a strange thing to say when you’ve won the previous two races, I was actually quite content with sixth because I felt on the limit a few times and had a couple of moments.

“I wanted to see the chequered flag at Mugello for once, so job done.”

In taking the chequered flag in a MotoGP race at Mugello, Miller accomplished a task at which he had failed four times before, including on the championship’s last visit, in 2019.

While team-mate Francesco Bagnaia crashed out of an early lead, the man on the #43 Ducati felt as though he got something out of his weekend.

“Mugello is a place that I love, all us riders do, and we all missed being here last year,” added Miller.

“It hadn’t loved me much back because my results before this year had been pretty bad, let’s be honest. Both years we ran the yellow livery with Ducati I was in the front group, but managed to dump it.

“It’s a track you love to ride at on a MotoGP bike but one where I’ve done some silly mistakes before, so it’s not a case of me not being fast enough, let’s say.

“So, like Le Mans … I had some unsettled business coming there and I was able to right the ship, so the aim for Mugello was the same thing.”

Miller remains fourth in the standings, now 31 points behind Italian Grand Prix winner and championship pace-setter Fabio Quartararo.

Next up is the Catalan Grand Prix, this coming weekend.