Why MotoGP's stewards must revisit Miller and Mir's Losail clash

On the 13th lap of MotoGP's Doha GP, the lead group headed up by Jorge Martin was starting to stretch out. Reigning MotoGP world champion Joan Mir, lapping in sixth position just behind Jack Miller, was prompted to make a move on the Ducati rider. On the entry to Turn 10 he carried a little extra speed on his Suzuki to try and take advantage of a slight gap that the Australian had left open on the inside.

There was contact, which Mir apologised for, taking his right foot off the peg and raising his leg. But the apology clearly wasn’t enough for Miller, who took the opportunity when Mir ran wide out of the last turn to take his position back without a thought for where his rival would return to the track. According to the data from the Suzuki, the contact between them took place at 190km/h (118mph). There are several reasons to believe the Australian rider was looking for revenge on his rival, who was quick to criticise a manoeuvre that he was convinced was deliberate.

“The move by Miller was over the limit and it was very dangerous,” commented Mir, who took a count to 10 and gathered his thoughts before speaking to the press. “He saw me and he came for me. I hope this is investigated so that it doesn’t happen again. He did it on purpose and for that reason he should get a ban.”

“There were a few moments with Joan but that’s how the race was,” Miller responded. “They would have been wrong to pull the black flag out. He just ran wide, he wanted to come back on the track but I was already there. I wasn’t just going to wave him past. Everybody here is looking out for themselves, it doesn’t matter what happens with anybody else.”

Immediately after the incident between the two riders had taken place, Race Direction announced that the clash had been put under investigation. Loris Capirossi (Dorna), Franco Uncini (FIM) and Mike Webb (IRTA), deliberated for four laps, and on lap 17 the decision came: “No further action.”

Jack Miller, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Once the race was over, a delegation from Suzuki went to see Race Direction to weigh up the likelihood of a successful appeal.

The dynamic of this kind of process is well established in the regulations. Firstly, the team in question requests a hearing with the Stewards Panel, which in Qatar consisted of Freddie Spencer, Bill Cumbow and Andres Somolinos. In this case it was Shinichi Sahara, Suzuki’s highest ranking official on site, who went through the images of the incident with them.

As far as Autosport understands, the argument put forward by Spencer and company was not to the satisfaction of the Japanese engineer, given that the focus of the analysis was on Miller and Mir’s lines, without considering their intentions. However, Sahara decided not to take the protest any further, given that this was completely new ground for him.

It could do no harm for Race Direction to summon the two riders involved and ask for an explanation, in order to ensure that a similar incident does not become the norm

Before now, this kind of incident would have been taken care of by Davide Brivio, Suzuki’s former team manager, who departed at the start of the year to join the Alpine team in Formula 1. Understandably, nobody from Ducati asked for a review of the incident.

Now that the heat of the moment has subsided and the Japanese factory have decided not to go further, it is important to reflect on an incident that fortunately ended up as nothing but a scare. It could do no harm for Race Direction to summon the two riders involved and ask for an explanation, in order to ensure that a similar incident does not become the norm. More than anything, if the body that is dishing out the justice in the smaller classes - when young riders are constantly chastised for their over-exuberance on track - it is not right to overlook such a misdemeanour on a 360km/h rocketship when it was surrounded by 10 or 15 other machines.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Last year, almost the entire MotoGP grid unified in their clamour for more consistency from the stewards' panel, who they accused of different interpretations of identical actions.

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“Their job is not easy but somehow there has to be a stop to the rising aggression we are seeing in the smaller classes,” said Valentino Rossi at the time. “There is a lot of contact on the straights and we are getting to the point where it is becoming dangerous.” It is a view that could be easily applied to Sunday’s incident in Doha between Miller and Mir.

“There were quite a few bikes behind me and I don’t even want to think about what might have happened if I’d crashed,” reflected Mir in a comment worthy of reflection.

If indeed the Spaniard had gone down on that point of the track, he would have been at the mercy of the peloton that was coming behind him, who would not have had time to take avoiding action. If that had been the case, you can be sure the judgement wouldn’t have been so lenient. But it would be good to make a movement now and make sure it doesn’t happen again, before it’s too late.

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images