Jack Miller admitted that he felt “too stiff” during the Thailand Grand Prix as a result of not being happy with the set-up of his Ducati in wet conditions.
The factory Ducati pilot fired through from seventh on the grid to take the lead early on at the Chang International Circuit, the Aussie leading ten laps before eventual race winner Miguel Oliveira managed to pass him at Turn 12.
Miller conceded that he lacked the stability during the fast corners that make up the second half of the Chang circuit, a short-coming he says made his Thai GP run “stressful”, with only his strength on the brakes into the slower corners in the opening portion of the tour keeping him within range of the KTM rider.
“We had no idea whatsoever (to expect) because we only had two warm-up laps, I saw some of the guys roll through pit-lane a couple of times and thought that maybe that wasn’t a bad idea but I didn’t think I had enough fuel,” said Miller.
“It was a stressful one no doubt but generally whenever the first wet session rolls around I’m usually pretty quick to jump to it and understand my setting.
“I wish my engineer had listened to me on my sighting lap because I said this thing doesn’t feel ideal, through the flowing corners from Turn 5 onwards I was really suffering and Miguel (Oliveira) was able to gap me quite a lot, he was super strong there.
“I felt almost a bit too stiff, I tried my best and I led quite a lot of the way there and he passed me the first time I fought back but it was a long stressful race.
“I tried to have another go at him towards the end, I switched the (electronic) map back because I wanted to have another crack at the win but through sector 3 and 4 I was struggling too much.
“I felt really good on the brakes so I felt stronger than him in the first two sectors as I felt I could throw it in deep, I’m sure you guys would have seen some decent lunges early on but if you weren’t transferring too much of the weight it was just sitting on top of the tyre and sliding, so that was that.
Miller added that he attempted to calm the nerves of Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia ahead of the race once it became clear the rain would arrive, the Italian having struggled for form in those conditions throughout the year so far.
“All I told him (Francesco Bagnaia) was to believe himself at the end of the day, he’s one of the best riders in the world and he’s done a fantastic job until now, and I’ve seen him ride well in the wet before,” continued Miller.
“I saw he was apprehensive when the rain clouds arrived, so I just stuck it into him a little bit so I think that helped.”
