Miller loses out to teammate in scintillating Spanish Sprint 

Jack Miller came within a lap and a half of winning the Spanish Sprint, but still collecting a special podium having been pipped at the post by KTM teammate Brad Binder.

Miller led seven of the 11 laps of the Sprint race, but had to settle for third behind victorious Binder and Francesco Bagnaia in an exciting Saturday in round 4 of the 2023 MotoGP season.

Despite Bagnaia taking second, Marco Bezzecchi held onto a slender three-point lead in the championship after salvaging the final points-paying position of ninth.

The race was interrupted by an early red flag due to a scary four-rider crash at Turn 2, while four more including poleman Aleix Espargaro crashed separately once racing resumed.

With two riders collecting medals there were plenty of celebrations from the KTM crew and Miller was thrilled with the result despite the win slipping away.

He admitted it was a battle at the end having “murdered” his front tyre, while the Aussie marked the podium with a huge ‘stoppie’.

“It was a mega race by Brad and we had a good dice there,” Miller said post race.

“I murdered the drive part of my tyre and started suffering on the back straight and was a sitting duck.

“I made a mistake on the last lap and just went extra deep to make it easy for Francesco. So a little bit disappointing, but I am still stoked.

“To be here on the podium and challenging for wins in our fourth race is awesome.

“The whole project has taken a big step this year, it is awesome.”

Miller was on fire from the moment he dropped the clutch, flying away off the line to charge into the lead.

The Aussie led a KTM 1-2 as Bagnaia also rose to third ahead of slow-starting poleman Aleix Espargaro.

Not even an entire lap was possible before a Red flag arrived after a scary crash took out four riders at Turn 2.

World championship leader Bezzecchi was caught up in an incident also featuring Alex Marquez, Augusto Fernandez and Franco Morbidelli.

Morbidelli appeared to have sparked the chain reaction, slipping off his Yamaha on the inside and colliding with riders alongside him.

Chaos followed with bikes and bodies strewn across the track and gravel. Thankfully all riders escaped relatively unscathed with Morbedlli lucky to walk away in particular after being hit in the back by an oncoming rider. 

For the second time in as many standing starts it was a KTM 1-2, but this time Binder led Miller.

Martin retained third ahead of Bagnaia, while Espargaro had another slow start dropping from first to fifth.

Miller lost second to Martin by the end of the lap in the Stadium section. The Aussie fought back with a big lunge at Dani Pedrosa corner before the Pramac Ducati rider replicated his Lap 1 move, only for Miller to immediately snatch it back.

By Lap 3 Miller not only regained control of second, but launched an attack on his teammate and surged into the lead with a well executed move at the final corner.

Marquez fell at Turn 2 for the second time within four laps after losing the front on his own, while Takaaki Nakagami also crashed out and Joan Mir eventually joined them on the sidelines.

Another one to fall was Espargaro, whose tough time finished on Lap 6 when he crashed out heavily into the Turn 6 gravel.

Having controlled the field for five laps, Miller found himself on the defence and on Lap 9 Binder made his move at the heavy-braking Dani Pedrosa Corner, but could not pull up his KTM and allowed the Aussie back through.

The #33 South African tried again a lap later and an instant replay almost occurred with Miller regaining the lead on the exit.

But on this occasion Binder completed the switchback before the following left-hander to deny Miller a dream win.

The boundary pushing Binder checked out as Miller found himself on the defence to Bagnaia on the final lap.

The reigning world champion pounced on a mistake from the KTM rider at Turn 6 to steal second.

Despite Bagnaia taking second, there were still big celebrations at KTM with Binder sliding his way to a second Sprint win of the year and Miller rounding out the podium.

2023 Spanish MotoGP Sprint results

1 Brad Binder KTM 18:07.055

2 Francesco Bagnaia Ducati +0.428

3 Jack Miller KTM +0.680

4 Jorge Martin Pramac Ducati +0.853

5 Miguel Oliveira Aprilia +1.638

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