IN
THE
WIND
P24
MOTO3: ALL CLEAR
R
ed Bull KTM's Jack
Miller and Husqvar-
na rider Danny Kent
were cleared of wrong-
doing after Moto3 title
rival Alex Marquez's
Estrella Galicia team
put in a formal protest
about their overtaking
moves and blocking
tactics in the Malaysian
Grand Prix, especially
on the last lap, meant
that Marquez lost im-
portant ground in the
title battle.
Miller had several
close encounters with
Marquez and the Span-
iard's teammate Alex
Rins during the race, notably
into turn one at the start of the
last lap, which dropped Marquez
from the front of the group to an
eventual fifth.
Kent, who runs out of the
same Ajo team pit as Miller,
even though his KTM is badged
Husqvarna, was accused of un-
fair blocking tactics, also on the
last lap.
Both were called to Race
Direction, but the protest was
thrown out.
Miller explained that his tactics
had been "to put as many bikes
between me and Marquez as
possible. I didn't drive into him. I
wanted a clean race, but to push
him wide and allow a couple of
other bikes through. If I'd delib-
erately wanted him to crash, I
could have driven into the side of
him, and he'd be on the floor."
Apart from the title battle, there
has been bad blood between
the pair since Aragon, where
Marquez hit Miller, and the latter
crashed.
"It's not my problem," said
Miller. "Marquez touches people
a lot. This is racing in their way...
he touched me a lot."
Marquez's teammate Alex Rins
had also been aggressive during
the race, he said.
"He's normally a good rider,
but today he didn't give the room
he normally does," Miller said. "I
completely understand. He was
being a good teammate to Mar-
quez – better than Marquez was
to him last year. Hats off to him."
The final round in Valencia,
said Miller, "will be like the last
round of a boxing match: gloves
off and everyone goes for it."
The younger Marquez said:
"The TV footage speaks for itself.
Perhaps I was overly cautious,
but we stayed on the bike."
His older brother, two-time
MotoGP World Champion Marc
Marquez, was more vociferous.
"Miller was really aggressive, but
I think my brother has enough
potential and enough body to do
it too."
Michael Scott
Game on: Jack Miller (8) and Moto3
World Championship rival Alex Mar-
quez (12) had several close encoun-
ters in the Malaysian Grand Prix.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
