Locals make life hard for Miller 

Jack Miller might be racing in front of an adoring home crowd at Phillip Island, but the local wildlife was not his friend on Sprint Saturday.

Unbelievably Miller struck a rabbit in qualifying and a seagull in the Sprint before crashing out in a separate accident at MG from eighth.

The #43 KTM was knocked out in Q1 and only started 16th, but made impressive ground to be 10t on the opening lap before rising to eighth, but his rave ended in the gravel on Lap 7.

The 29-year-old riding his eighth Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix could not quite believe his luck.

“Saturday could have been better but it was not and it is what it is. We will try not to have any incidents with wildlife tomorrow,” Miller said.

“Tipping into Turn 1 a seagull flew into the front of the bike and lodged itself.

“It blew the airbox open and the whole right hand front side of the bike.

“On the second lap with all the buffering the seagull kept getting its head jammed between the brake lever and handlebar so that was unreal.

“I went into Turn 2 and pull it out with my throttle hand and was not able to so then I just came to terms with it.

“It was hanging around and I obviously was not going fast enough to get it out so I just focused on the job at hand.”

Amazingly this arrived after Miller had already encountered a Phillip Island native in qualifying.

“When I came out of 6-7 there was a small dry line at Hayshed and when I saw it (rabbit) coming I thought it can’t be that stupid, but it was,” he said.

“It went straight over the front tyre and meant I had a bit of a moment there.”

Despite the rabbit causing some damage, Miller made it clear it was not the reason why he was knocked out in Q1 and started down in 16th.

“It smashed everything on its way through but I don’t think that was the issue as to why we did not make it through,” he said.

“I gave it everything I could, but just could not keep on the dry line enough.”

Seagulls have history at the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, with Ducati’s Andrea Iannone infamously head-butting one when leading the 2015 race at MG.

On this occasion Miller struck the unlucky bird at the fast Doohan Corner, but it did not stop him from pressing forward.

The Aussie appeared to be on track for a strong eighth result before it all went wrong in an incident not caught by the TV coverage.

Miller was also unsure of the cause of the crash.

“I was picking off guys and the pace was good, running mid to low 1m28s,” Miller said.

“I felt comfortable and happy. The tyre was almost getting better and better.

“I just made the pass on Brad and Franky and then unfortunately I went into turn 10 and she just went away from me.

“It was kind of like a nothing crash. I went in the exact same way as the lap before and I don’t know if the front was a little bit cooler.

“Every lap at turn 4 I felt the right edge. If you tried to bury the rear brake a bit more it would just start coming around a bit.

“For sure cooling could have been a factor, but if that is what it was I do not know.”

Despite the rotten luck, Miller was not too frustrated that the Phillip Island animals targeted the only Australian MotoGP rider.

“It is what it is and at the end of the day we are at a place where there is wildlife around,” he said.

“We are racing in the elements and in their territory, so we need to accept the fact there is wildlife and unfortunately it was me today.”

Image: Gold and Goose

2024 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix

Practice 1: Fri 10.45-11.30 (Fox Sports)

Practice: Fri 15.00-16.00 (Fox Sports)

Practice 2: Sat 10.10-10.40 (Fox Sports)

Qualifying: Sat 10.50-11.30 (Fox Sports)

Sprint: Sat 15.00 13 Laps (Channel 10/Fox Sports)

Warm up: Sun 9.40-9.50 (Fox Sports)

Grand Prix: Sun 14.00 27 laps (Channel 10/Fox Sports)

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