Jack Miller broke his six-race points drought with a hard-fought seventh-place finish in a chaotic British MotoGP at Silverstone, while expressing heartbreak for Fabio Quartararo, who retired from the lead due to a ride-height device failure.
Both Miller and Quartararo made strong starts on soft front tyres, running first and second in the early stages of the restarted race. Quartararo quickly pulled out a five-second lead before disaster struck, ending what looked like Yamaha’s first win since 2022.
“I tried to go a similar pace to Fabio, but I realised after a few laps it wasn’t sustainable,” said Miller. “I was using too much of the front tyre to get the bike to turn, especially at places like Turn 5. Eventually, I had to change my lines to manage better in the wind.”
After dropping to sixth, Miller recovered to fourth behind Marc Marquez in the final laps. But the calm didn’t last.
“I was getting comfortable behind Marc and was looking for a place to make a move, but then Morbidelli came through and all hell broke loose between me, him, and Alex Marquez,” Miller recalled. “It turned into a real dogfight. Once you lose mid-corner momentum, it’s hard to recover compared to bikes that can park and squirt out of corners.”
Miller eventually finished 1.4 seconds behind the podium battle and just ahead of Luca Marini. Despite the challenges, Miller praised Yamaha’s progress and lamented Quartararo’s misfortune.
“Obviously devastated for Fabio. He had it in his pocket today. He was gone like the wind. Nothing I could’ve done.”
Commenting on Quartararo’s pace, Miller added, “He had a clear track, could brake and ride how he needed. That soft front tyre let him push hard early. His comfort zone was a step ahead of everyone else today.”
Silverstone marked Yamaha’s second race in a row with genuine winning potential, following Miller’s early crash while leading at Le Mans.
“We’re pleasantly surprised to be fighting for wins, but we know we have more work to do. The bike’s fundamentals are solid, and we’re steadily improving it,” Miller concluded.
