Jack Miller admitted he was left “quite embarrassed” after a dramatic loss of pace in the closing stages of the Austrian Grand Prix left his Yamaha running at times slower than the Harley-Davidson Bagger Cup machinery.
The Pramac Yamaha rider had been circulating in the mid to high 1:32s during the race at the Red Bull Ring, but his pace deteriorated badly over the final five laps as his rear tyre ran out of grip.
Miller eventually completed the final lap in 1:40.225, around eight seconds slower than race winner Pedro Acosta’s final lap. His late-race struggles were particularly striking given that Moto3 winner Max Quiles was also able to lap in the 1:39s during parts of Sunday’s race.
The Australian finished 21st, crossing the line around 20 seconds behind his teammate Toprak Razgatlioglu and almost a minute behind Acosta.
Miller said the problem became particularly severe from around lap 13 or 14, when the rear tyre began spinning heavily even on the long straights. He changed to a lower engine map in an attempt to manage the situation, but the deterioration continued.
Source: MC News
By the closing stages, Miller said a strip of the tyre’s base rubber had appeared in the centre, leaving him unable to apply full throttle without triggering more wheelspin.
Despite the dramatic drop in performance, Miller never considered retiring from the race.
“I’m not a guy that parks it,” he said. “I was out there to do a job, the race isn’t over until it’s over.”
The tyre problems were made worse by Michelin’s decision to bring back a stiffer rear casing for the Austrian round. The construction is used at only a handful of races each season, and Miller said he had struggled with the casing previously.
Yamaha also faced electronic issues throughout the weekend, with Miller explaining that the bike was unable to manage the transfer of power smoothly enough to prevent the rear tyre from spinning.
According to Miller, the problem meant that even additional engine power would not necessarily have solved the issue because the Yamaha was already struggling to put its existing power down effectively.
The difficult Austrian weekend highlighted the combination of tyre degradation and electronics problems that left Miller fighting simply to reach the chequered flag, rather than competing for positions further up the field.
