A bold bid to finish in the points ended in disappointment for Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS riders Jack Miller and Tito Rabat in today’s MotoGP race in Austria.

Miller was an undeserving non-finisher, crashing out on lap 20 of 28, at the fast and spectacular Spielberg track while Rabat rode a lonely race to finish 19th.

After qualifying on the seventh row Miller backed his race day ability to challenge for points. The Australian rider surged through the traffic from 19th to 13th on the opening lap and by lap seven was settled in 11th place behind Finnish rider Mika Kallio who eventually finished tenth.

Despite his forward progress being slowed by rear grip issues Miller was focussed on finishing in the points when his race came to an abrupt end at turn nine.

Miller was unhurt in the tumble but unhappy to go unrewarded in what had been a challenging weekend aboard his Honda RC213V at the demanding Austrian venue.

The heavy braking zones and hard acceleration out of low gear corners proved to be a difficult layout for both Miller and Rabat.

After being delayed on the opening lap and losing touch with a group Rabat was forced to ride alone in a fruitless chase for points having started on the last row of the grid.

After back-to-back races in Brno and Spielberg both Miller and Rabat will now focus on the coming British Grand Prix at Silverstone in two weeks.

Tito Rabat: 19th
“I am disappointed because even though I knew it would be difficult to get points in the race that was my target. On the first lap I tried to go around Pol Espargaro but he went long because he had no brakes so I lost time and distance to the group and then rode alone to the finish. Now it is important to keep our heads up in this difficult moment and focus on the remaining races.”

Jack Miller: DNF
“The race was going really well when I crashed on lap 20. I had really good pace early in the race but then I started to lose some rear grip, it felt like the tyre was overheating in the final sector, I had couple of warnings that I was losing grip into turn nine. Then it stepped out under braking and then overloaded the front and I tried to hold it up on my elbow but to no avail. A disappointing end but I had a strong race until that small mistake. Now I’m looking forward to Silverstone and being in top form.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“I was expecting a more difficult race for Jack but he had a really strong pace in the early stages, much better than in practice, so it is a pity about the crash. Jack deserved to be in the points today. For Tito it was difficult weekend and not easy to try to improve today on a track that is not an easy layout for us. To leave Austria with zero points is difficult to accept but it’s like this so now we will work to improve at the coming races.”