Miller apologises to Crutchlow for wipe out

Jack Miller has apologised for taking out LCR Honda team-mate Cal Crutchlow and is adamant he had the pace to challenge at the front in the wet at Silverstone.

The MotoGP rookie made a storming start in the soaking conditions, jumping from 16th on the grid to fifth by the third lap, but his race unraveled when he overshot the braking zone at Stowe, tucking the front end and sliding into Crutchlow to spend the pair sprawling.

"As I came past Pol Espargaro after he passed me back on the straight and I passed him back, I got a little squirrely on the brakes," Miller said. "I had to release and go for more brakes. We looked at the data, I wasn't going any faster, it was just that Cal was there, and I couldn't do anything about it.

"I have to say sorry to Cal, because I didn't want to do that to him. We're learning bit by bit, as I did when I went into Moto3. I was the first one to crash out of races there too! I learned a lot today, and we have to look at it as a positive."

Despite the incident Miller says his team-mate took it better than he expected, whereas his team boss Lucio Cecchinello was less forgiving to the young Australian.

"Cal sent me a message and told me he isn't going to pay our bet [for predicting the winner of the Moto2 race] with a winky face on it, but I wouldn't have dared to have gone and collected it anyway," Miller explained. "Cal was really good about the crash. I don't think I would have if I'd been in his place, and I have to take my hat off to him.

"Lucio wasn't very happy. As you can imagine, they're all pretty pissed off, because we had fourth and fifth, but life goes on."

Miller added that he was convinced he had the race pace to sustain his top five position and prior to crashing had his eye on Movistar Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo.

"100% I thought I could run with the leaders in the early laps," he explained. "I felt really comfortable where I was, and I could have run that pace for the whole race.

"I was riding within my limit. I thought I was faster than the group I was in. Jorge in particular didn't have the pace at that point he was a little slower than the other guys."

The 20-year-old leaves Silverstone with a penalty point, his first of the season, along with a telling off from Cecchinello and fully accepts his punishment, one which he hopes to learn from.

"I didn't dispute the penalty point at all - it's the least they can give me. Yeah, it was a racing incident, but I didn't get one in Assen, and here I needed one."