Miller in career best qualifying at wet and windy Silverstone
Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Jack Miller will start 12th on the grid for the British Grand Prix following a career best qualifying performance.
At a cold, wet and windy Silverstone circuit Miller was in his element to make it through to the final QP2 session for the first time.
But the Australian rain master, who won his maiden MotoGP race at a wet Assen in June, was disappointed not to take full advantage of the conditions.
Miller felt a top ten qualifying was within reach but he crashed at turn 17 as he began his first flying lap on the treacherous 5.9km Silverstone layout.
For qualifying Miller required a pain killing injection to ease the discomfort in his fractured right hand, an injury suffered in Austria three weeks ago.
Miller faces a test of stamina in tomorrow's 20-lap race after being forced out of the past two GPs at Spielberg and Brno with back and wrist injuries.
After struggling to get comfortable with his Honda RC213V in the dry conditions of the opening free practice sessions Tito Rabat was more at ease in the rain-hit qualifying.
Rabat improved his wet track time in FP4 to go almost two seconds faster in the slippery conditions of the first qualifying session. He will start 21st on the grid.
Jack Miller: 12th – 2'18.531
“I was happy to make it into QP2 but not happy with my performance in the that qualifying session. Overall I'm feeling good to be back on the bike after missing two races, it's great feeling to ride the Honda RC213V. Each session I've been feeling stronger and getting faster in the dry, and then in the rain made it into QP2 for the first time. I wanted more but I didn't have enough heat in the rear tyre and it came around on me just as I was starting my first flying lap. The main thing is I'm on the grid for the race and I hope I'm able to make it to the finish, as I needed a pain killing injection for my hand in qualifying.”'
Tito Rabat: 21st – 2'21.774
“A difficult weekend especially when it started to rain this afternoon and I had a small crash in FP4. But in the rain I have a better feeling with the bike than in the dry at the moment, so I pushed for a faster time in QP1 and was able to do it as the track dried a little. Now we must concentrate on doing a good warm-up session in the morning and prepare to do a strong race.”
Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“Jack was very impressive to make it through to QP2, we know how strong he is when the track is wet and slippery. Unfortunately he didn't have enough heat in the rear tyre, which he also used in QP1 and crashed when he was on target for a good time. The main thing is Jack has a good starting position for the race. Tito was struggling in the dry and then it rained for qualifying and I was expecting a strong performance after his good race to tenth in the rain in Brno. For sure starting last on the grid will make it a tough race for Tito, it is not where we would like him to be.”