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MotoGP’s first feud of 2021 is still far from resolved two weeks after a high-profile incident between world champion Joan Mir and factory Ducati rider Jack Miller at the Doha Grand Prix, with the pair still at loggerheads this week as action gets underway at the Portuguese Grand Prix.
Speaking to the media ahead of the start of practice, Suzuki rider Mir remains adamant that the contact between him and Jack Miller exiting the last corner at the Losail International Circuit was a deliberate move – and launched a fresh attack not just on Miller but on the FIM MotoGP Stewards for their inaction in punishing the Australian.
“Suzuki went to race direction without any success,” a frustrated Mir explained at Portimao. “There was nothing to do, the decision was already taken. They saw the action as legal.
“It’s something that I don’t share with race direction, because I think the action was out of the limit. But I respect the decision, because I don’t know what race direction thinks or what Jack thinks.
“For me it’s clear – it’s out of the legality for sure, because you can see that he’s looking at me and then he touches me. Let’s see if it happens in the future with the same action and if they penalise again.
“The decision is clear – they think that it’s legal and I don’t. I think it can be dangerous if it happens in the future to other people, and it’s something that they have to penalise. It’s dangerous, it’s intentional, it’s on the straight. But it’s better to think about this weekend and forget about that. For sure I won’t do this action to another rival!”
For his part, Miller himself says he’s happy to draw a line under the incident – but admitted that he’s not reached out to Mir to do so, instead waiting until the opportunity presents itself at this weekend’s event.
“I’ve been absent from social media,” he explained. “I haven’t been on at all, even had a look at it, so I haven’t had the chance to send him a message on there and I don’t have his number.
“I’m sure I’ll catch up with him at some point over the weekend and we can discuss it and hear each others’ side of the story.
“I turned off social media, I don’t listen to you guys because it gives a false sense of security, and I’ve just tried to be normal and calm. We’ll just try to do the best we can at my job, which is riding motorcycles, and at the end of the day if I’m not good enough, I’m not good enough.”
However, Miller says that he’s had to take some steps to prevent the incident having too severe an impact on him coming into this weekend, by acknowledging that social media – and the criticism directed his way – isn’t going to make him faster in Portugal.
“I don’t have to see a psychologist to know that when you get a lot of build-up, it brings you up then makes you crash,” he explained. “Reading a thousand negative comments isn’t going to do my mental wellbeing any good either, so it’s better to turn that crap off and focus on what’s important.
“That’s getting myself right, doing my job right, preparing myself for the weekend, not wasting energy on things I can’t change like people on the internet posting stuff that doesn’t really matter. These things do get to you, so it’s important to not focus on them and to try and focus on what is important.”
