Miller, Quartararo clash over "unnecessary" Indonesia MotoGP contact
Ducati’s Jack Miller has branded an aggressive overtake by Fabio Quartararo in the MotoGP Indonesian Grand Prix “unnecessary”, though Quartararo “doesn’t care” about the Australian’s complaints.
Miller passed Quartararo in the early stages of Sunday’s shortened rain-hit Mandalika race to lead briefly before being overhauled by eventual winner Miguel Oliveira on the KTM.
Quartararo made slight contact with Miller at the Turn 2 right-hander trying to retaliate on Miller, who out-dragged the Frenchman after he made a mistake exiting the final corner.
The Yamaha rider would ease past Miller on lap 16 of 20 to reclaim second, but the latter was left fuming at their earlier contact.
“It was not a fight,” Miller said of his early battle with Quartararo. “I just passed him and he precedes to ride his motorcycle into the side of my leg.
“Quite clearly like he did with Johann [Zarco]. I don’t think it’s necessary, once somebody passes you, to immediately accelerate towards their front tyre.
“I will quite happily have a word with him about this, because it wasn’t the first time.
“And as we saw with Johann as well. You can pass, that’s okay. But that doesn’t mean you open the gas and aim for my front tyre that I’m gonna crash.
“I don’t think that’s fair, he rode into the side of my leathers.
“I clearly had better pace at that point of time. I come from ninth on the grid and he was on pole and I was faster than him.
“So, it was just an unnecessary risk at that time to bump me in my leg. That’s all.”
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Quartararo feels Miller is overreacting about the incident and has “nothing to say” on the matter.
“I don’t care. I don’t care, because he’s the one in the paddock in the past that has [made] some aggressive [moves] also, and I think my move was not really aggressive,” Quartararo responded.
“I just didn’t really expect to touch and my touch was not something big, was a really small touch.
“I don’t know if he watched it on TV, but before talking he better watch because I didn’t do anything wrong.
“He was talking to me on the bike but I couldn’t hear nothing, but I saw he was not happy.
“But I didn’t make any strange move, like [I didn’t] attack him.
“He just overtakes me in Turn 1, I saw he was running wide and I just closed the line.
“So, I would also like to have the comment from other riders if they saw it as a non-respectful move or not.
“From my side, if I make a bad move I say sorry. But that one, I have nothing to say.”
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