Aussie MotoGP star Jack Miller declares he still has sights set on championship despite crash exit
A crash exit at the last Grand Prix hurt Jack Miller’s championship hopes, but the Aussie star will be going out with a fight.
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Aussie MotoGP star Jack Miller has declared he might be down but not out of this year’s championship.
The factory Ducati rider told News Corp that his crash exit last Sunday at the Red Bull Ring was a tough result but was rebooting for the Austrian GP at the same circuit this weekend. “The championship is the main goal, that’s what I’ve said all along and there’s a lot of races to go,’’ he said.
Miller is fifth, 72 points behind championship leader and factory Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo with seven rounds to go.
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The 26-year-old Queenslander will hope to regain some early season form, when he won both the Spanish and French Grands Prix. He also finished third in the Catalan GP in June.
His retirement last Sunday was hard to take especially after having the five-week mid-year break to prepare for the second half of the season. And that Ducatis traditionally do well at the Red Bull Ring as shown by Jorge Martin’s dominant victory on Sunday.
“It’s especially frustrating when you give away valuable points for no reason.’’
As for this weekend, Miller said the Ducati team would tinker with the bike set-up while Miller gets his mindset ready.
“I’ll just hit the reset button. Easier said than done but I feel I’m in a good position, I feel fit and strong and should be able have a decent week.’’
Miller made his comments as Foxtel announced it had secured the rights to the MotoGP championship for five years from 2022 when Remy Gardner joins Miller as the second Aussie on the grid.
It’s the first time two Australians will compete at the top level since Casey Stoner and Chris Vermeulen in 2009.
“It’s awesome what Fox Sports is doing along with Kayo,’’ Miller said.
“Especially next year when we have two Aussie guys on the grid from a country that’s relatively small in terms of road racing.
“It will be really good and five years is great. It’s mega news.’’
The deal means every MotoGP practice, qualifying and championship race will be shown live on Foxtel and Kayo from 2022.
Foxtel Group Chief Content and Commercial Officer Amanda Laing said 2.4 million
households were now watching sport on Foxtel and Kayo – up 26 per cent on last year.
“MotoGP is fantastic entertainment and we have seen double-digit annual audience growth
over the past six years. Kayo has turbo-charged this growth, attracting a new legion of fans.”
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