Another point
In a particularly difficult moment in the history of the Pramac team, which on the eve of the Italian GP nevertheless announced the surprise arrival of Ross Brawn as a consultant, the home team still managed to score another points finish at Mugello. As happened in the previous round in Barcelona, it was once again the Australian Jack Miller who reached the top 15, finishing 15th in the final classification.
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Ahead of the official Yamahas
A therefore encouraging result for the Sienese team, even more so on a track where the characteristics of the Yamaha did not match those of Mugello: “Overall, I am happy with the weekend – admitted Miller – it was another weekend of progress and we continue to understand both the strengths and the limits of our package. We were close to the other Yamahas throughout the race and, unfortunately, Toprak lost a position on the last lap due to a penalty for exceeding track limits, but that’s part of racing. The reality is that when you fight in such a tight group, even a couple of tenths can make a huge difference, especially here at Mugello. If you can’t make up ground before the last corner, the long straight makes it very difficult to defend or attack. Today I had to be very patient with the bike, especially on corner exit. Sometimes this made me a bit vulnerable in the battles around me, but we managed to stay in the fight and recover positions when opportunities arose. We continue to work hard and this weekend we tried some new things. The important thing is to keep moving forward, gather information and make progress. We know where we need to improve and we are all pushing in the same direction.”
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Progress more important than points
On paper Miller therefore finished in 15th place, but on track the Australian crossed the line in 16th position behind teammate Toprak Razgatlioglu. The official reversal of positions occurred following the post-race penalty imposed on the Turkish rider, guilty of gaining an advantage by exceeding track limits: “The final position is not the most important thing for me. Of course, without the penalty I would have finished 15th and scored a point, but what matters most are the progress made during the weekend. We made a change to the bike and I immediately felt much better. The bike braked better, I was able to maintain a higher speed in corners and, above all, I finally regained the feeling of engine braking that I was missing. This made a big difference and allowed me to ride more naturally. In the race I was able to stay with the group and my pace was much closer to that of the other Yamaha riders compared to Friday. I was able to make up ground in corners, but it was still very difficult to overtake because we lost time on the straights and on corner exit. I also lost time during the race due to a problem with the starting device and later I fought for several laps with Quartararo. These battles cost me some rear tire performance in the last laps, but overall I am happy because we made a clear step forward. The most positive thing is that we finally understood something important about the bike. My team chief and the team worked very well and I believe we have found a direction that will help us continue to improve in the next races.”
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