Aussie outsider stuns GP field
Marquez still tops standings after chaotic race
JACK Miller, a rank outsider, won a raindisrupted and chaotic Assen Moto GP yesterday in which secondplaced Marc Marquez consolidated his lead atop the championship standings after his rivals suffered in the wet.
Australian Miller, 21, riding a Honda Marc VDS, finished ahead of Marquez (Honda) and Briton Scott Redding (Ducati Pramac) for his maiden victory in the elite motorcycling category.
The race started in overcast conditions, but heavy rain started to fall and, with 12 laps to go of the fabled Assen circuit, the race was red-flagged.
Italians Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati), Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Pramac) and Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) were the leaders.
The restart, after the torrential downpour eased off, saw a raft of riders, including the former podium sitters, crash out in the tricky conditions.
Miller, listed at 750/1 before the race, said: “I don’t know what to feel at the moment.
“A lot of people said this project was not going to work and I just hope I’ve shown them wrong and that I can ride.”
Marquez extended his lead over Spanish compatriot Jorge Lorenzo to 24 points.
“Today was a race to lose the points,” Marquez said.
“I saw Valentino was pushing, and I said, ‘Ok, I cannot follow him’. When I saw him crash, I saw Miller behind me and when he passed me, I just said, ‘Ok!’.
“This second place is like a victory, because of the very critical conditions. These 20 points will be important in the championship race,” Marquez said.
Moto2 and Moto3 races also heralded in maiden victories for Japan’s Takaaki Nakagami, 24, and Italian Francesco Bagnaia, 19, respectively.
South Africa’s Brad Binder remains 48 points clear at the head of the Moto3 championship standings despite losing control of his bike in the closing laps, dropping from the lead group and ending up 12th on the day.
Spain’s Jorge Navarro, who won last time out at Catalunya, is second in the standings while Romano Fenati is third.