Calling Japan… Are You There, Japan?
S
unday's German MotoGP was
the first occasion in 54 years
a Japanese bike failed to finish
in the top 10 of a premier class
grand prix. As both Honda and
Yamaha's struggles continued,
it was left to Franco Morbidelli,
12th at the flag and the top per
-
former from a Japanese factory,
to surmise the situation.
"We can call it a Japanese
crisis," said the Italian. "Some
-
thing got lost along the way. And
the Europeans were able to work
better, especially the Ducatis and
the KTMs. They were able to put
a better effort into the project.
And we've seen it also from
last year to this year, they even
stepped it up and they are step
-
ping up also during the champi-
onship.
"It means that they have a such
a great margin on their machines
that it's really disheartening. I hope
that something will change in the
future because will be better for
us, for the Japanese riders. And
will be better for the show as well."
Neil Morrison
WIND
IN THE
P44
It's been very slim
pickings for the Japanese
riders this year.
Harsh Words
From Miller
J
ack Miller had a stinging response to those
riders competing for one of the two Japanese
manufacturers on Sunday. When it was put to him
that KTM is currently the only factory capable of
challenging Ducati, the Australian launched some-
thing of an unprovoked attack, seemingly focus-
ing on Marc Marquez.
"We're the only ones not complaining about our
motorcycles and we're actually trying to do some-
thing about it, to fix it," he said. "Everyone else, all
they do is throw their toys out of the cot and say
that my bike is shit. As simple as that."
Responding to a point that some bikes on the
grid are currently inadequate, he went again.
"Yeah, but why are they shit? Because it's their
own doing. They kicked out 99 percent of the
engineers to get his engineers. His guys in there.
And now they are f'ed and he can't even make it
past the lap. So, it's their own doing. Everybody
wants to complain about their own bikes, nobody
wants to do anything about it. Shut the f'ed up
and get on with the job. You are paid to ride a mo
-
torcycle—not to be a f'ing princess and complain
about your bike!"
CN
Red Bull KTM's Jack
Miller had some
harsh words for the
complainers.
