The Australian and the Spaniard have been meeting on the track since the beginning of the course, when, during the Doha Grand Prix , the second stop on the calendar, they had a hard time in the middle of the straight, in a hair-raising maneuver by Miller, who took the justice by his hand after being overtaken by #36, very aggressively.
On that occasion, the stewards considered what happened as a career set, although they demanded the presence of both at the next appointment, in Portimao, where they recommended calm.
Two weeks ago, in Misano, Mir and Miller had it stiff again, and the last one took place this Sunday, in Austin, in one of those last lap actions that are so difficult to judge.
Both were fighting for sixth place, with Miller ahead of Mir, and when approaching turn 16 of the Texas track, Suzuki’s was a little more aggressive than normal to the point of touching his opponent’s Desmosedici , which he saw, helpless , how he lost two positions and crossed the finish line eighth.
As soon as he passed under the checkered flag, the #43 went to look for the #36 to reproach him very angrily for his action. Miller even grabbed him by the nose of his helmet and even threatened him, Mir later claimed.
Shortly after, the stewards decided to impose a sanction on the rider from Palma that consisted of the loss of a position, a circumstance that meant that Miller finally finished seventh and the current champion, eighth.
“Race Management does what it wants. In Misano, Dominique Aegerter received a penalty of more than 30 seconds for a similar action (with Jordi Torres, in the MotoE race). In fact, they imposed the penalty that allowed Torres to win the championship. I don’t make the rules,” Miller said.
For Mir, the ‘aussie’ runner had spent several laps limiting himself to closing doors, without much sense.
“I was protecting my line, and there was no gap there. In Misano he did the same to me. I don’t care if he apologizes, every time I’m with him the same thing happens. I’ve lost count of how many times Joan has kicked me out”, explained the Ducati rider, one of the most honest members of the grid.
“What I have to do is work to avoid being in those positions. I should be one of those who attack at the end of the race, not one of those who defends himself,” stressed the Townsville driver, who, with three grand prix to go by the end he occupies fourth place in the general table, 26 points behind third, which could not be other than Mir.
