Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS riders Jack Miller and Tito Rabat scored a double points finish in today’s second round of the 2017 MotoGP World Championship in Argentina.

Miller claimed his second top ten finish in the opening two races with another calculated ride in the 25-lap race at the Termas de Rio Honda circuit.

Miller’s Spanish teammate Rabat staged a fast finish to win a close four rider battle for 12th place with just 1.6s covering the group that included Hector Barbera, Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith.

After starting 17th on the gird Miller struggled for bike balance with his Honda RC213V with a full tank in the opening laps. But a storming second half of the race saw the Australian finish less than two tenths of a second behind eighth placed Scott Redding.

The result moved Miller to seventh in the points standings and two points ahead of World Champion Marc Márquez, who failed to finish the race.

The next race at COTA in Texas will be the third in the opening sequence of flyaway races.

Jack Miller: 9th
“The race was the best I felt all weekend and finally I was able to put together the speed I knew we had when it meant something. I made a good start and was sitting with a fast group although I wasn’t comfortable with a full fuel tank in the opening laps and made a couple of small mistakes and lost some time. But there were some positives from the weekend and some solid points for the championship. My goal is to be always top ten this season and so far I’m doing that so hopefully we can keep the momentum going at the next race in Texas.”

Tito Rabat: 12th
“Before the race it had been a difficult weekend with rain in qualifying, but I felt good in the race with a strong rhythm and I’m very happy with this result. I had a great fight for 12th with a group of four riders and was able to finish ahead of them. This is good for my confidence and I'm confident that with some more improvements to my riding style and a better set up for acceleration we can get the results we know we're capable of.” 

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“I am very happy for Jack and Tito to be in the points, the same as they did in Qatar and it looks like we can perform stronger on race day than earlier in the weekend. It was a good step forward, both riders were fighting with riders who perhaps have a little more speed than us so it was good for both them to win their battles in the race.”