Jack Miller “nightmare” - ‘tech problems made him look worse than he was’

KTM’s woeful weekend in Jerez will be “disappointing” for the manufacturer in their bid to be Ducati’s main challengers.

Brad Binder came home in P6 at last week’s Spanish MotoGP but Jack Miller and wildcard Dani Pedrosa did not finish.

The previously show-stopping Pedro Acosta was forced to settle for P10 while Tech3 GASGAS teammate Augusto Fernandez did not complete the distance.

Miller’s race ended with an angry confrontation in the gravel with Franco Morbidelli, after he was clattered out from inside the top 10.

“Jack’s weekend was a nightmare - not all Jack’s doing,” analysed broadcaster Simon Crafar.

“Technical problems, one after another, made Jack look worse than he was.

“He’s quite strong here, good in bad conditions. He got to show none of his cards because of these technical things.”

Crafar said of Miller’s race-ending incident with Morbidelli: “Turn 5, those types of corner, encourage a rider to give it a go - and [a big crash] is the end result.

“It’s sad. He had a tough weekend.”

Miller’s collision with Morbidelli was ruled a racing incident.

Meanwhile, Binder’s title hopes took a major blow. He now sits seventh in the MotoGP standings after four rounds, 33 points behind championship leader Jorge Martin.

Binder came up short in a fight for P4 against Alex Marquez and Enea Bastianini.

“Brad is not going to be happy. We know Brad,” Crafar said.

“He had the possibility, I said on the grid, of getting on the podium.

“He showed speed [on Saturday], they worked overnight, different tyre, longer race.

“I thought he had the chance and it clearly didn’t happen like that.

“A quite disappointing weekend for KTM because they are strong here, traditionally. “

Even starlet Acosta came back down to earth with his first ordinary result since joining the premier class.

Jorge Lorenzo had spectacularly predicted Acosta would win the Spanish MotoGP but it did not come true.

“Pedro? I knew it would be a tough one for him here,” Crafar said.