Australian Jack Miller has been left to rue ‘what could have been’ at the Red Bull Ring’s 11th round of the 2024 MotoGP World Championship, the out-of-contract Queenslander crashing while challenging for a top five position.

Miller’s fortunes looked set to change at the Austrian grand prix after he stormed to fifth in Saturday’s Sprint race, marking one of his more competitive outings in what has been a challenging season.

“[I’m] happy to be back in the top five,” Miller stated. “We had to go the long way round in Q1 and Q2, but I’m feeling good this weekend and could put in a decent time. A good result in the Sprint and fingers crossed that will set us up well for tomorrow.”

Beaming with confidence from his Sprint race performance, Miller worked his way into P6 during the opening stages of Sunday’s 28-lap encounter before an untimely tipover on lap 10 dashed his chances of a breakthrough result.

The outgoing Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider managed to remount his RC16 in hopes of salvaging the weekend, although he was unable to add to his championship points tally with a P19 result.

“Not the way we wanted the day to go, but I got away with a better start and we went with a softer map today,” Miller explained. “I was nursing the bike at the beginning and I was sacrificing a little bit, but I was comfortable.

“The crash was a small mistake – I came in a little hot and I don’t know if I hit a bump but it started bouncing and put me down. After that, I put in a solid race and a lot of good laps considering. So, it was a ‘what could have been’ because the pace was good – I just wish I could have been with the boys I was fighting with.”

Miller, currently ranked 15th in the championship standings, continues to face an uncertain future with just four vacant seats available for 2025, while a switch to WorldSBK was previously floated as an option for the 29-year-old.