Jack Miller became the first faller of the day just seconds into the opening practice session for the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano on Friday. The Pramac Yamaha rider went down at Turn 4 on his out-lap, and a replay revealed the front wheel locked on his way into the right-hander, though he wasn’t pushing.
Speaking to the media after Friday’s running, Miller attributed the crash to cold brakes. "Ah, cold brakes, cold tyres," Miller said. "As soon as I grabbed the brakes, I understood that they were cold. I was OK with that. But then, heat instantly, and sometimes when they catch heat instantly like that, they just lock, and the tyre wasn't ready. So, it nearly bunny-hopped sideways, and I was on the ground before I had a moment to even think about what was happening."
The incident added to a difficult day for Miller, who ended the session second-to-last. Yamaha struggled overall, with both Pramac riders unable to find pace. Miller explained that the M1 is struggling to drive out of the corners, despite the high-grip asphalt, and that the bike pushes so much into some corners that "it feels like I’ve got a semi-trailer behind me."
"Just trying to get the drive, you know, trying to get the bike to hook up, it's not working," he explained. "The bike seems to be difficult to make a turn. Grip's pretty high in general, but at the same time, it's pushing the front quite a lot. So you try to get the bike to rotate in some of these corners, and it's just not happening."
He continued: "The fast sequence of corners, the bike's pretty stable, but as you get into [Turn] 14, I'm arriving at 14 on the brakes, and it feels like I've got a semi-trailer behind me. I get to the apex, and the bike is still pointing in that direction, and I need it to be almost halfway around, so then you have to force it and rotate it. And the same's happening through the first sequence of corners."
Despite the challenges, Miller and his team gathered valuable data to improve the setup. "So, like I said, we're just going to work on balance. We were playing a lot, a lot with it today, and, yeah, I think we gathered some information. We went down with the rear and then down with the front and then down with both, just trying to find the right balance. So, like I said, we've got plenty of information, especially in the hour-long session, but it was just a little bit too late. We're chasing our tail a little bit. That's all it is."
With this result, Miller and Yamaha must work hard to find the right setup ahead of qualifying and the race. The second free practice session and qualifying will determine whether they can bounce back or struggle further.
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