Jack Miller took his second MotoGP podium in a row after finishing third behind Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin.
Miller, who started the race in third place as he had finished, had to recover from an early part of the Grand Prix in which he slipped from second to sixth.
After challenging pole sitter Martin for the lead at the beginning of the second lap, Miller quickly lost places to Suzuki drivers Joan Mir and Alex Rins, team-mate Bagnaia and a fast-starting Fabio Quartararo.
But as the race progressed, Miller used his additional backstroke to fight his way back to third place before catching up with leaders Bagnaia and Martin.
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Miller was unable to get any higher despite pushing to the absolute limit, but his third place along with Bagnaia, who won his fourth race of the year, not only gave Ducati a historic all-Ducati podium, but also to the championship of his first team since 2007.
“I’m proud to be part of this historic podium. Three Ducati in the top three are just fantastic, it’s fantastic for them, fantastic for the team, fantastic for the engineers because they have worked so hard,” said Miller.
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“If we go back to 2011, 12, 13, the story is lengthy. But if we look at where we are now and how many bikes are so strong; I know when I got into MotoGP in 2015, if you do asking if, “If you wanted to get on a Ducati, you’d say, ‘not really,” but now everyone wants to get on a Ducati.
“I think this is the situation we are in right now. I think it depends on the drivers, the engineers and the way we have worked over the past few years.
“It’s been great to be part of this part of development over the past few years.”
After the race, Miller hinted at being overly conservative about tire management early on after seeing Marc Marquez use that tactic on his way to 2019 Valencia win.
Instead, Miller believes it cost him a better result and that he has to come from further back than Bagnaia or Martin needed.
Miller said: “In the first few laps I honestly felt like a deer in the headlights because I was trying to get past Jorge [Martin] but he passed me again immediately. Then I got a little nervous, you might say.
“I had a little moment when I hit the brakes on the last corner, him [Francesco Bagnaia] came through and then it was Suzuki, Suzuki, Yamaha. I thought what’s going on here.
“I was able to regain my composure, but I was a bit vulnerable, let’s say, because I was really trying to make it (rear tire) at the exit of Turn One and Turn 13.
“I remember Marc [Marquez] in the past those were the two points on the track where he was really slow and I could catch up, but later in the race there were two points where he was really fast.
“I tried to play the long game a bit, but going back that far definitely didn’t help.”
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