Did big MotoGP pile-up merit a penalty? Riders' views - and ours

A four-bike Indonesian Grand Prix lap one crash was followed by a verdict of no further action by the MotoGP stewards - but was crash instigator Jack Miller lucky to escape sanction?

Here’s what happened, what those involved thought, and the views of The Race MotoGP Podcast panel.

WHAT HAPPENED

Miller had found himself boxed in on the outside of Turn 2 which turns into the inside of Turn 3 - and tucked the front immediately after getting his KTM upright for the change of direction.

His fall ended his own race and also consigned Aleix Espargaro, Alex Marquez and Luca Marini to DNFs.

There was no huge clamour from Miller's peers for him to be penalised post-race - and while the stewards did place the incident under formal investigation, they quickly returned a verdict of no further action.

"I didn't see it, I couldn't see it," said Marini of the incident. "When we made the change of direction, there were three bikes there [separate from] three riders, that it was impossible to avoid them. I didn't see anything so I don't know. Just bad luck."

"Not a lot to say because I didn't see the crash," said Marquez.

"Maybe he [Miller] was too optimistic and he touched the brake and he lost the front but it's something that can happen.

“Everybody wants to recover positions fast, and especially in this track, that later on with the heat and the front tyre [temperature and pressure coming up] it's difficult to overtake."

Miller's explanation

Miller was apologetic for the outcome, but felt he hadn't ridden irresponsibly - instead caught out by the circumstances of track position, as he had to brake hard to avoid a collision with Aprilia's Maverick Vinales taking the corner up ahead.

"One of those things - I got away to a decent start, threaded the needle at Turn 1, into 2, kind of went in there side by side with Aleix and I just tried to keep the speed obviously for the inside for corner 3.

"As I changed over to corner 3, Vinnie [Vinales] was holding a tight line, to obviously cut under whoever was on his outside.

"My main focus was on the battle I had at hand with Aleix in Turn 2, and then as we've gone into 3, I saw how close I was to Vinnie and basically as soon as I grabbed the front brake, she went down - and that was all she wrote.

"It was one of those ones where it all closed up, typical first-lap sort of thing. Obviously I want to apologise to those guys, it was not my intention. Racing incident. Trying to negotiate a million different things at once and unfortunately this time I got caught out by it."

Miller sounded like he would've accepted a penalty - "if they had punished me... what are you going to do?" - but said the ruling of no further action was "fair".

"I'll admit, I was in the wrong, I made the mistake! I was the first one to hit the ground. But I didn't hit anybody, and the reason I crashed was to not hit somebody.

"I don't feel like I did anything over the top."

Espargaro's Moto2 comparison

Espargaro was probably the firmest in his assessment of the incident, though he stopped well short of saying Miller deserved a penalty.

However, he pointed to a perceived mismatch between the lack of sanction here and the hefty double long-lap penalty levied against Zonta van den Goorbergh in the Moto2 race.

Van den Goorbergh, son of former MotoGP rider Jurgen, was sanctioned for sending Jaume Masia into a highside, after taking Turn 1 in the pack on the opening lap with a fairly conventional racing line but at much higher speed than Masia - leading to the collision.

"I saw, for example, the decision of Moto2 of Zonta with Masia," mused Espargaro when asked whether Miller should've been penalised. "They just put a double long-lap penalty because Masia crashed. I saw like a normal touch of corner 1. 

"Why did he get a double long-lap penalty and [Miller] didn't? I don't care, I don't blame Jack, it can happen, it's the first lap.

"He obviously risked a lot-a-lot-a lot, if you check from the helicopter he was completely out of line [coming into Turn 3]. But anyway it was racing and could happen."

Valentin Khorounzhiy’s view

The lack of a sanction against Miller appears consistent with the MotoGP stewards' approach to crashes like these.

The stewards have been reliably reluctant to penalise riders if they are deemed to have crashed on their own as opposed to as a result of a lunge or contact - so it's possible that Miller's crash won't have been viewed as different to, say, Noah Dettwiler tucking the front and wiping out Tatchakorn Buasri on the outside of the corner in the Moto3 race.

But their decision absolves Miller of his responsibility in having put the bike in the position to crash. Though there isn't one continuous camera angle to claim so with any confidence, replays make it fairly clear that his approach to the corner was non-viable regardless of the line Vinales was following up front.

Miller's fate - and the fate of three other riders - was sealed when he entered the corner where he did, but he could've avoided putting himself into that situation in the first place.

Simon Patterson’s view

I don’t really believe Miller deserved a penalty for what happened - but I was surprised (and once again more than a little frustrated) that he didn’t get one.

He made a mistake, and mistakes happen in the frenetic opening corners of any MotoGP race, especially the further down the grid you go, but when others don’t escape sanction for lesser offences, it’s hard to explain it away.

Van den Goorburgh did something much less risky. Not trying to take positions or gain an advantage but simply trying to hold his place, he made the slightest of contact with Masia without even knowing that the other rider was there - and ended up with a double long lap for it.

Miller, on the other hand, definitely looked like he was looking for a position change when he made his move - and it shouldn’t matter that he only hit others after he crashed, not before. We’ve been told that the rule is that if you cause others to crash, you get sanctioned - and it shouldn’t matter whether you’re on or off the bike when you cause them to fall.

Matt Beer’s view

I don’t generally advocate for penalties and I can see where the concept of ‘first-lap leniency’ comes from, but the handling of this incident made me question that stance.

A double long-lap for Miller at the next race wouldn’t be a deterrent because this is the kind of crash no one actually tries to risk having given how catastrophic the consequences could be for yourself and everyone around you when the bikes are so tightly packed on the first lap.

But an error that takes so many innocent riders out of a race, and was caused by Miller putting himself on a trajectory that looked certain to end in contact with multiple riders whatever he did next, feels like it needs to have bigger consequences for its instigator than for anyone else involved, purely for reasons of justice.

And as for first-lap leniency - yes first laps are chaotic, yes overtaking is now relatively hard thereafter. But is it really wise to go easy on mistakes that have potential to cause far more destruction than when the bikes are more spaced out later and you’re less likely to wipe out multiple riders at once?