Australia’s Miller wins rain-hit French Motogp
Ducati’s Jack Miller held his nerve in a crash-filled Motogp race in rainy conditions to win the French Grand Prix at Le Mans on Sunday, with the Australian finishing ahead of local hopes Johann Zarco and Fabio Quartararo.
It was Miller’s second consecutive victory after his success in the Spanish Grand Prix earlier this month, making him the first Australian to seal back-toback wins since Casey Stoner in 2012.
In chaotic scenes at the Bugatti Circuit after a spell of heavy rain, a number of riders, including defending champion Joan Mir, six-times champion Marc Marquez, Miguel Oliveira and Alex Rins, failed to finish the race.
Speaking in parc ferme after his win, an elated Miller spoke of the crazy action and weather.
“Hectic. Very hectic,” he said. “Like now, it was perfectly still pretty much just before, but halfway through the race, when the rain came and the wind came with it, as I came down pit road here the barrier here blew into pit lane and I said, ‘they’re going to red-flag this, for sure.’
“But then it dropped off relatively quick. But the first couple of laps were real dodgy on the wet tyres.
“But I had to get going and then I had the long laps [penalties].
“I wasn’t sure why, but apparently [for] speeding — I generally do get speeding tickets here in France.
“But I was able to bosh them out pretty quickly and just get to work on Fabio.
“I got in front of him and I just felt comfortable, to be honest. I was just riding to the conditions.
“Absolutely amazing. I can’t believe it. Back-to-back wins like this, it’s just fantastic.
“I can’t thank the team enough.”
The win saw Miller move right into the championship mix, just 16 points off series leader Quartararo.