Jack Miller blames Alex Marquez for Aragon Moto3 crash but concedes ‘this is racing’: video

Aussie Jack Miller has been shafted from top spot in the Moto3 championship after being wiped out by new leader Alex Marquez.

Jack Miller crashes after clash with Alex Marquez in Aragon Moto3 race. Source: Supplied

A CONTROVERSIAL collision with his chief rival has put Jack Miller’s title aspirations on the back foot in the Moto3 world championship.

The Townsville rider was disputing the lead early in the Aragon Grand Prix with Alex Marquez when a clash between the pair sent Miller tumbling off his bike.

He was able to ride the shattered machine back to the pits where his Red Bull Team Ajo crew repaired it enough for Miller to return to the race, three laps off the pace.

● LORENZO THE LAST MAN STANDING IN ARAGON MOTOGP
● VIDEO: ROSSI ‘OKAY’ AFTER NASTY TUMBLE

A second crash added more pain to an increasingly dark day for Miller, who struggled to a distant 27th while Marquez narrowly finished second to Romano Fenati.

Race officials investigated the clash after the race but, with no word on a verdict, it looks increasingly likely that they will declare it a ‘racing incident’ with neither rider facing any sanctions.

Jack Miller struggles to pick up his bike after his second crash. Source: Getty Images

Miller squarely placed the blame at the doorstep of his Spanish rival, but conceded that hard racing is a reality when a title is on the line.

“Marquez had tried to pass me on the straight but he didn’t quite have the pace and came up the inside, but I had the dry line,” he explained to SPEED.

“I was just going around the corner normally, and I knew Marquez would normally have to shut off because there was a bit of a puddle on the inside.

“But he didn’t close the gas and drove straight into the side of me, and I fell off my bike.

“That happens. This is racing.”

Jack Miller has given his thoughts on his crash with Alex Marquez in the Aragon Moto3 race, accusing the Spaniard of failing to give him enough room to continue racing on the dry line around the corner.

Marquez also felt it was a racing incident, citing the tricky conditions thrown up by a wet track with a dry line.

“I passed him on the inside, rode my line on the dry bit of track and felt contact halfway into the corner,” he said.

“I didn’t know what had happened because I was focused on keeping to my line.

“I think that what happened was a racing incident.”

SPEED's Kevin Magee and Chris Vermeulen review all the action from the Aragon MotoGP round.

The result in Aragon leaves Miller trailing Marquez by 11 points in the championship — the first time he has lost the lead all season — with Marquez’s teammate Alex Rins a further seven points behind in third.

Although Marquez and Rins have been the strongest riders in the championship over recent races, Miller is buoyed by the knowledge that the next few races will be held on tracks that should work in his favour.

“We now come to some really good tracks, ones I really like, so we’ll see how we go,” Miller said.

The next round of the Moto3 world championship is at Motegi in two weeks’ time kicking off a string of three races in as many weekends, including the title’s annual stop at Phillip Island for the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix on October 17-19.

Originally published as ‘He didn’t back off, he drove into me’