Wildlife Woes: Jack Miller’s Challenging Saturday at the 2024 Australian MotoGP

Nature interferes with Jack Miller's performance during Australia MotoGP Saturday

Miller's qualifying session impacted by rabbit collision, sprint race becomes challenging following seagull incident

Jack Miller's performance at the 2024 MotoGP Australian Grand Prix on Saturday was significantly impacted by multiple incidents involving wildlife during the qualifying rounds and the sprint race.

On Saturday morning, the KTM competitor was forced to participate in the Q1 round, yet failed to progress beyond 16th place due to a collision with a rabbit that resulted in damage to his RC16's fairing.

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During the initial lap of the sprint at Turn 1, Miller collided with a seagull, resulting in a significant opening on the right side of his front fairing.

Jack vs. Seagull: A surprising match-up, who's scoring? 💥😅 Kicked off the Sprint strong, until a seagull collision at the bike's front… far from perfect 🤦‍♂️ Despite that, was feeling upbeat, but then the bike failed on Turn 10. Just one of those odd days! Eager for what's next 🤟 pic.twitter.com/AMjwe5CPLJ— Jack Miller (@jackmilleraus) October 19, 2024

The deceased bird became stuck between the bike's fairing and its brake lever, causing damage that significantly reduced the bike's speed in a straight line.

Despite the challenges, the Australian managed to climb to eighth position, only for a minor crash to terminate his race on the eighth lap out of 13.

"Saturday might have been improved," started Miller.

I managed to kick off the Sprint well despite starting from a less-than-ideal qualifying spot. However, as I was making the first turn right after the start, a seagull collided with the front of my bike, which was far from perfect.

I made an effort to handle it during the initial lap, but when that didn't work out, I shifted my attention to the task of racing, and things were progressing well. I was feeling confident and content, as the tyre seemed to be improving progressively.

He mentioned, "The speed was satisfactory. However, we were missing around 10km/h due to the large opening at the front of the motorcycle."

"I managed to keep up the momentum. Following a strong opening, I succeeded in overtaking a few more competitors. Sadly, right after I overtook Frankie [Morbidelli] and Brad [Binder], I crashed at Turn 10.

"The incident was minor, occurring at the same pace as my previous lap."

"The moment I let go of the brakes, it slipped out of my control. Really disappointed about that, yet pleased with the pace. We're aiming to bounce back and strive for a solid performance again tomorrow."

The short race turned out to be a nightmare for KTM, as Brad Binder fell towards the end and Tech3 newcomer Pedro Acosta experienced a severe highside crash, leaving his participation in the grand prix uncertain.

Regarding his accident, Acosta, who only managed to qualify in 15th position and didn't advance significantly in the sprint, commented, "It was a challenging day at the Island, and there's not much to say about it."

"We had limited opportunities to progress and refine our performance due to the sparse dry laps, though this morning's session wasn't too disappointing."

"This afternoon was challenging, but we'll attempt to unwind, consider tomorrow's performance, and focus on how I feel when I wake up in the morning."

Augusto Fernandez emerged as the sole KTM competitor to cross the finish line, securing a ninth-place finish for his top sprint performance since the Spanish Grand Prix as a Tech3 team member.

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