In baking hot conditions Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Jack Miller has qualified 11th on the grid for Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

Miller’s fourth row start comes on the back of a brilliant seventh place finish in his home race at Phillip Island just six days ago.

The gritty Australian continues to ride with a plate and eight screws in his fractured right leg, an injury suffered in a training accident four weeks ago.

Miller took his place in the all-important Q2 session with the sixth fastest lap time in the morning FP3 session.

However he could not repeat that sizzling performance for a single lap time attack in afternoon qualifying when track temperatures soared to 48 degrees.

More importantly Miller has posted a string of fast and consistent laps aboard his Honda RC213V in race trim, which points to a strong surge for a top ten finish in the 20-lap race.

Miller’s Spanish teammate Tito Rabat will start from 19th on the seventh row of the grid after posting a fastest lap of 2’01.228 in the Q1 session.

This was Rabat’s fastest lap of the weekend so far after struggling with his pace in the mixed weather conditions of Friday practice.

The Malaysian Grand Prix is round 17 of the MotoGP World Championship.


Jack Miller: 11th - 2’00.326

“We made some changes to the bike for qualifying but it wasn’t perfect and I did a faster time in FP3 this morning. I know the race pace is there, but it is a pity to miss out on doing a faster flying lap for a better spot on the grid. But starting 11th will do me nicely for the race, I’m looking forward to it.”

Tito Rabat: 19th - 2’01.228

“Today was very difficult and to be honest I am very disappointed with my performance, I tried 100% but this was the best I could do. All I can do now is try to find a way to be faster and do a strong race tomorrow and score some points.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal

“A good weekend so far for Jack although he struggled a little more than I expected in qualifying. Importantly Jack has a very good race pace and even though he is 11th on the grid I think he can aim for a strong result. So far Sepang has been a disaster for Tito and even though he tries 100% it is not easy for him to control his emotions when things are like this but I know he will put in a big effort for the race tomorrow.”