Miller ‘lucky to walk away’ from Malaysian MotoGP crash

SEPANG, Malaysia: Jack Miller admitted Monday he was lucky to walk away from a nasty crash at the Malaysian MotoGP, with his team saying it was a stark reminder of the dangers riders face.

The Australian KTM star was involved in a dramatic incident involving teammate Brad Binder and Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo on turn two of the opening lap at Sepang on Sunday. All three riders came off with Miller’s head appearing to hit the back of Quartararo’s bike.

The 29-year-old needed treatment on the track before being taken to the medical centre, but was cleared of serious injury. “Lucky to walk away from that one... thank you to everyone for the kind messages,” the Australian said on Instagram.

The race was red-flagged and when it restarted Binder attempted a return, but pulled out with pain in his left shoulder. Quartararo rode on and finished sixth. “Today was a stark reminder of the risks our riders face every time they line up on the grid,” KTM said in a statement.

The team’s racing manager Francesco Guidotti said it was “very bad to see”. “Brad tried to make the second start but the pain in shoulder meant it was not safe to start,” he said. “Jack had a check in the medical centre but was then back in the box and was OK.”

The penultimate race of the season was won by Italian world champion Francesco Bagnaia ahead of Spanish title rival Jorge Martin. It cut Martin’s championship lead to 24 points ahead of the season finale, which was due to take place in Valencia but was cancelled on Friday after deadly flooding in that part of Spain.