Keith Huewen: Quartararo-Miller controversy 'sounds like handbags to me'

During an enthralling battle for the podium in Mandalika, Quartararo and Miller made contact following a turn one overtake which saw Miller run slightly wide before their racing lines couldn’t be avoided.

Quartararo, who had gotten better drive on corner exit, bolted towards the inside of Miller’s Ducati in preparation for turn two, however, before arriving at the right-hander the two made contact with Miller claiming the current MotoGP world champion 'rode into the side of my leg'. 

Quartararo had quite the response for the Australian as he said Miller has himself been known for his 'aggressive' moves, while inviting other riders to share their opinion on the incident. 

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During our latest Crash.net podcast, MotoGP Editor, Peter McLaren described how the incident unfolded: "It wasn’t that obvious to us watching. But at the end of the race Jack Miller was visibly unhappy with Fabio [Quartararo], then it transpired that earlier in the race, at turn one, Jack had passed Quartararo on the inside of turn one and then drifted wide and Quartararo squared under him. 

"Their lines crossed and it was at that point that there was a bit of a disagreement. Jack Miller believes Quartararo rode into his leg, that’s what he said, and that he didn’t need to be that aggressive, certainly not at that point of the race. 

"He also felt Quartararo made a similar move on Zarco when Zarco passed him. Now, Zarco felt very differently about it and that he did nothing wrong.

 "He (Quartararo) invited other riders to give their opinions on it actually, because as far as he was concerned it was a fair enough move." 

In terms of clamouring for other riders opinions on the matter, former British champion and grand prix rider Keith Huewen was not a fan of the Frenchman’s comments, saying: "It sounds like the equivalent of Twitter trolling to me and getting everyone else on your side when you’ve got an opinion about it. I’m not sure I agree with that from Quartararo’s point of view."

While Miller was evidently displeased by the actions of Quartararo, it looked like a case of hard racing to many, something that’s become the norm in MotoGP. 

Miller was an early contender for victory after making a brilliant start from ninth on the grid, but after finding his limit with regards to pace fairly early on, there’s perhaps a suggestion to be made that the factory Ducati rider was more frustrated by losing out on a podium rather than it being a dangerous move by the Yamaha rider.

That was something again pointed out by Huewen, who also called the incident a typical case of handbags being thrown. 

Huewen continued: "Jack is fairly tough and he’s made some tough moves. With Quartararo, it kind of goes back to what we talked about last time out. In Indonesia, for whatever reason Zarco just didn’t; whether it was him physically or the bike wasn’t able to make the moves he should have made to go forward. He just didn’t look capable of making those moves. Quartararo did, and he was in that kind of mood all race. 

"Jack might have also been a little bit frustrated because it's the type of conditions you would of expected him to do really well at, also being on that Ducati, with his level of performance, which brings us to Argentina when he grabbed that pole in adverse conditions, but he didn’t do so in the end.

"Quartararo went forward at the end of the race so it would have been like rubbing salt in the wounds. But rubbing is racing. 

"There’s no way that I would disrespect Miller’s view. He obviously felt strongly about it and Quartararo came back at him with what he had to say. But it sounds like handbags to me. Let’s get on with Argentina."

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