Further progress
For the third time in this world championship, the Pramac team can close a race weekend with both its riders finishing in the points zone. After the French and Hungarian GPs, the ‘double’ was also achieved in Germany, with Jack Miller in 12th place and Toprak Razgatlioglu in 15th, in a weekend where the Turkish rider returned to Sachsenring twelve years after his last race in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup category.
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All the difficulties
A performance that thus confirmed the progress of the three-time Superbike world champion in his first year as a MotoGP rider, with the result in Germany representing his fifth finish in the points zone in this world championship: “It was a very difficult race and, to be honest, I didn’t like it very much because tire management played a fundamental role – he admitted – I gave my best from the start, but after a small mistake in the first laps I lost the group I was following and had to race alone for most of the race. This circuit has been one of the most difficult for me so far. Every weekend I learn something more about MotoGP and tires, but here the characteristics of the tires were very different from what I was used to, and this made things particularly challenging. The other riders already know this track, the tires, and how to manage them in these conditions, while for me everything was completely new. The positive side is that I learned a lot, and this experience will be valuable when we return here next year because I will already know what to expect and how to approach the race. I would like to thank all the fans, especially those who came to support me with Turkish flags. I’m sorry I couldn’t get a better result today, but their support means a lot to me and motivates me to work even harder for the next races.”
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Close to the top 10
Coming off 2nd place in the Suzuka 8 Hours, Jack Miller was the protagonist of a remarkable first phase of the race, during which he climbed to eighth position after starting from 12th place. However, four laps from the checkered flag, the Australian paid dearly for tire wear, slipping to 12th position: “It was a really good race until the last laps. I managed to stay with Quartararo for most of the race, but I had to use the rear tire a bit more than the other riders to get the same lap time. Once the tire started to lose grip, I had to change the engine mapping to be able to bring the bike to the finish line. It’s disappointing because a top ten finish was definitely within our reach, but at the same time we showed we had the pace to fight in that group for most of the race. We didn’t want to make big changes to the bike after yesterday (Saturday) because it was already working quite well and, overall, I think we were competitive throughout the weekend. There is progress. We are getting closer step by step and I hope the team can use the summer break to find a bit more performance before the second half of the season. I knew this project would have difficult moments when I signed, so it’s about making small progress, keeping my head down, and continuing to work. This is the only way to keep moving forward.”
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