Suzuki’s Joan Mir had another dramatic climax to his latest MotoGP race, and another coming together with Jack Miller.

Having struggled across the COTA weekend, and even more so in the demanding 20-lap race, the reigning world champion completed his Sunday in Austin with a last-lap clash, finishing seventh after sending both himself and Miller wide - Enea Bastianini capitalising on both in the closing stages. Ultimately, the Spaniard’s action resulted in a one place demotion in the final standings thanks to a Race Direction after the flag penalty. One that Mir vehemently denies was necessary.

“Really difficult race, I didn’t expect it, honestly,” he expressed, rather dejectedly last Sunday before continuing. “The track was a lot more slippery than normal and this makes it really difficult to overtake for us. This condition all the race. My pace was not bad but I was not able to accelerate in a proper way and then not able to overtake. I didn’t expect that feeling on the race. Looks like once I was alone, I was able to be strong, but once I was behind some rider then I was doing the same pace as him but I was not able to prepare any overtake. It’s really frustrating. I didn’t enjoy on this race and luckily, we are leaving.

“First of all I want to apologise, because I don’t like to create contact on overtakes,” he began, turning his focus to the last-lap incident with Miller. “This is the first thing. Like I said, I was struggling a lot to accelerate, I was not able to overtake. He was just a lot slower than me and I had to wait on the last laps to prepare something.

“I did a great manoeuvre in sector one, on the chicanes. I was able to overtake him in a really good way but then we arrive to the straight, and he just overtook me and give me a couple of tenths. Then he was just closing the lines, he was just no care about riding, he was just inside the corner, almost straight, doing some things, that I was… Yeah, he was closing the lines, but it was a little bit strange.

“And then in 16 I think, on that corner is a good corner to overtake. Then I took the inside, and he on the second part of the braking he just make like this and he just make a really, really tight line that I didn’t expect it. I touched the curb to try to avoid the impact, and then I touched him a bit. Luckily we didn’t crash. Luckily. Then I lost the one place, Bastianini overtook me.

“I think that the penalty is completely, I don’t understand. Because if all the races are like this, you don’t overtake, you just don’t try. Better don’t try and then the racing will lose its essence, no? Not much to say. Jack, obviously, I stopped on the straight and I was waiting to him just to blame and to do some things. He was threatening me and then doing some things but that is normal, when you are in this type of situation, I can understand. I think that Jack is a good guy and like I said, if he was me I would be also angry. So I don’t have nothing to say about him. He was just saying ‘See you on the next one’, or something like this, Australian style, but completely nothing to say about Jack. He’s always really respectful on the race. He’s a good rival, so there’s nothing to say and I’m sorry for the manoeuvre but I don’t respect the decision of Race Direction.”