Australia’s Jack Miller has missed out on a first win of the 2022 MotoGP season after some costly mistakes, but he held on for a second-place at Le Mans.
Starting second behind his Ducati factory teammate Francesco Bagnaia, who set the track record in qualifying, Miller made a blistering start to take the lead into the first corner.
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But a mistake with 23 laps to go allowed Bagnaia to re-take the lead.
Enea Bastianini, seeing Bagnaia beginning to pull away out the front, made his move on Miller with 16 laps remaining to relegate the Aussie to third.
Miller’s case for a podium was helped by fourth-placed Joan Mir crashing out a few laps later.
Pulling away from Miller, Bagnaia and Bastianini fought it out for the race lead, exchanging first position before Bagnaia ran wide in the heat of battle and crashed out just a few laps later.
It gave Miller the second-place his grid position warranted, but not in the way Ducati would have wanted.
The win was Bastianini’s third of the season, keeping him as the only multiple race winner of the year. Championship leader and defending champion Fabio Quartararo was fourth, behind Aleix Espargaro.
It was Miller’s second podium of the season, following a third at the GP of the Americas, plus a fourth in Indonesia and a fifth in Spain.