Jason Miller has recovered for a strong fourth-place finish in Race 3, Round 2 of the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge at Queensland Raceway today.
After qualifying seventh, Miller made an unforced error while battling for a top five position in Race 1, spinning down to 14th.
As a result of the spin, Miller sustained a couple of badly flat-spotted tyres which the team turned on the rims for Race 2, compromising the car’s balance. Despite the setback as well as a Safety Car period that lasted four laps, Miller was able to work his way up to 11th.
With a new set of tyres on board for Race 3, a determined Miller set about recovering the ground he lost in the first two races and made up five places in the first five laps. His charge continued throughout the remaining laps and he eventually finished fourth.
While Miller was pleased with how his weekend ended, his results in the first two races cost him some points and saw him falling from fourth to sixth in the series standings.
“It’s a bittersweet weekend; passing so many cars in Race 3 was very satisfying, but I shouldn’t have put myself in that position in the first place,” Miller said.
“We were struggling with car setup throughout practice and qualifying, and in Race 1 I was probably a bit impatient to make up positions and spun myself out of contention.
“But we kept making adjustments to the car and by Race 3 it was excellent, especially on cold tyres, which is why I was able to make up so many places in the first few laps.”
Miller paid credit to his modest crew, headed by his father Jamie, who have taken the fight up teams with far more extensive resources in the opening two rounds of the season.
“We’ve been battling head-to-head against professional race teams with far more logistics and infrastructure than what we have, so it’s very gratifying to be competitive with them,” Miller said.
The next Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge round is at Sandown, 16-18 September.
