Jack Miller “curious to see what Fabio Quartararo could do” in Dutch MotoGP traffic

Jack Miller endured a frustrating Dutch MotoGP at Assen, describing his race as being “stuck in the middle of the group” as he crossed the line in 14th – where he had started.

The Pramac Yamaha rider made early progress, briefly climbing to the edge of the top ten, but then found himself unable to pass Enea Bastianini and fell victim to the other KTM of Brad Binder.

Meanwhile, Monster Yamaha’s pole qualifier Fabio Quartararo dropped behind Miller after taking to the grass to avoid a fallen Fermin Aldeguer.

The Frenchman re-passed Miller - also racing in a special red-and-white 1999 R7 livery - on lap 13 of 26, but also became trapped behind Bastianini.

Quartararo eventually finished just 1.3s ahead of Miller, in tenth place, with Binder, Johann Zarco and Alex Rins in between.

“It was pretty much a race stuck in the middle of the group, battling away. I was behind Enea for a long time and couldn‘t do much,” said Jack Miller.

“Even when Fabio passed me, I was curious to see what he could do, as he seemed to be carrying a bit more speed, but he also got stuck there.

“With everyone running similar pace, you basically have to wait for someone to make a mistake to pass – otherwise, it's really difficult; you‘re never truly in a position to do much.

“We struggled a bit with engine braking – I switched to Map 2 on lap 3, then to Map 3 on lap 10, and from that point, I was done – I couldn‘t go anywhere.”

Despite the overtaking woes, Miller said: “We gathered some good information; there are positives on the bike and also areas where we clearly need to improve.

“Let‘s see what we can do in Germany.”

The Australian now travels to Japan to begin preparations for August’s Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race.

Meanwhile team-mate Miguel Oliveira, who retired with bike damage after an early tangle on Sunday, will join a private MotoGP test at Brno.