Jack Miller’s Teruel MotoGP race lasted less than two turns when he was hit from behind by rookie Brad Binder and both of them tumbled through the gravel.
The couple started in 14th (Miller) and 15 (Binder) positions on the grid, but the KTM rider was caught by the crowd in front of them as they huddled as they entered Turn 2.
Not the beginning that @jackmilleraus and @ BradBinder_41 had in mind
The couple crashed at Turn 2 on the first lap! #AlcanizGP pic.twitter.com/v92yXwOniE
– MotoGP (@MotoGP) October 25, 2020
Related articles
“Not much to say. Really exciting race, took every two corners,” said Miller. “I got off to a good start, got inside, overtook about three guys, didn’t do anything really strange, but got hit from the back and the bike kind of started me halfway and then kept shaking.
“It got worse and worse and I landed in the gravel and fell. Not ideal.
“Fortunately, I’m fine with how badly I fell. Both shoulder [pads] were destroyed, both knees, every bit of the suit destroyed. So it definitely did its job. But I’m just happy to walk away from it. “
Related articles
Binder put his arm around Miller in the gravel bed as the Pramac Ducati rider tried to find out what had happened.
“I knew I must have been hit because it wasn’t a normal highside or anything like that. I just got up and saw Brad and thought, ‘What the hell?’ “Miller said.
“I took off my helmet and asked him ‘what happened’ and he said ‘I don’t know man, I’m sorry’. So I told him not to worry, even in those tight corners.
“When I looked at it, it looked like he had misjudged the speed of the group and I was just unlucky to be there. He needs to come to his senses sometimes, but we’ve all done it, so I’m not going to sit here and curse him. It is what it is.”
Miller has now suffered four DNFs this season, only Jerez of which was his own accident. In Misano, a tear was sucked into its air intake, followed by an engine failure at Le Mans and now the mess with Binder in Aragon.
All of this left the Australian ninth in the World Championship with three laps to go.