MotoGP: Australia's Miller wins rain-hit French Grand Prix

JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP

Ducati's Jack Miller held his nerve in a crash-filled MotoGP race in wet and windy conditions to win the French Grand Prix on Sunday.

The Australian finished ahead of local hopes Johann Zarco and Fabio Quartararo.

It was Miller's second consecutive victory following his success in the Spanish Grand Prix earlier this month, making him the first Australian to seal back-to-back premier class wins since Casey Stoner in 2012.

Quartararo reclaimed the championship lead and sits on 80 points, a point ahead of Ducati's Italian Francesco Bagnaia, who came fourth in Sunday's race, with Zarco (68) in third overall.

In chaotic scenes at the Bugatti Circuit following a spell of heavy rain, a number of riders including defending champion Joan Mir, six-times champion Marc Marquez, Miguel Oliveira and Alex Rins failed to finish the race.

Miller, who started third on the grid, won despite a double long-lap penalty for speeding in the pit lane after early rain forced riders to swap their bikes in what would be the first flag-to-flag Grand Prix since Brno in 2017.

"It was very hectic," Miller said in a post-race interview. "It was perfectly still pretty much just before... but when the rain and the wind came as I came down pit road the barrier blew into pit lane and I said: 'They're going to red-flag this.'

"But then it dropped off relatively quick... the first couple of laps were real dodgy on the wet tyres. But I had to get going and then I had the penalties... I generally do get speeding tickets here in France.

"But I was able to bosh them out pretty quickly and get to work on Fabio. I got in front of him and I felt comfortable. I was just riding to the conditions... Absolutely amazing. I can't believe it. Back-to-back wins like this, it's just fantastic."

More from Sports News

  • Swiatek, Gauff through to Australian Open 2nd Round

    World number two Iga Swiatek advanced to the second round of the Australian Open on Monday with an unconvincing 6-3 6-4 win against first-time opponent Katerina Siniakova on John Cain Arena.

  • Sinner survives tough test, Alcaraz eases through

    Jannik Sinner launched his Australian Open title defence with a 7-6 7-6 6-1 win over Nicolas Jarry on Monday in a match that put the players' contrasting doping cases in the spotlight, while Carlos Alcaraz began his bid to complete a career Grand Slam with a 6-1 7-5 6-1 win over Kazakh Alexander Shevchenko.

  • DP World ILT20 Season 3 kicks off

    The stage was set on Sunday for the highly anticipated return of the DP World ILT20 Season 3, promising to mesmerise cricket fans across the globe.

  • Amorim sees progress in Man Utd's shootout win at Arsenal

    Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim said his team are still improving, as Sunday's dramatic FA Cup penalty shootout victory over Arsenal points to a more positive future after a difficult start to life at Old Trafford.

Blogs