The news came from former MotoGP racer turned commentator Simon Crafer, during a break in proceedings before the Moto2 P2. With the commentators filling time, the mic was passed to Crafer who spoke about bumping into a ‘beaming’ Jack Miller in the paddock.
“I saw a big smile on Jack Miller’s face, before the MotoGP session. And I basically asked him ‘What’s going on?’ - his face was beaming! He said ‘I was sitting in the box watching the TV with my feet up, looking up at the screen and something moved behind it [the TV].’ In the ceiling, running along the pipes he said there was a monkey - he thought it was a dog at first - and he was so happy to see it. He said ran along then whipped into the roof of the pit box above the KTM factory machines and hasn’t been seen since!”
Not this kind of monkey.
Miller’s encounter with the primate is not the first time top-level racing at the Buddh circuit has come into contact with the local wildlife. In 2011 a stray dog managed to find its way onto the circuit during a live Formula One session. The danger it posed to the drivers, marshalls and the dog caused race control to red-flag the session while the animal was captured.
The chances of another dog finding its way onto the track this year should be very low, as in 2012 the track blocked a number of potential entry points to the venue, cutting off the route into the track for our four-legged fans. Those routes might not be quite so tricky for a monkey to get around though, so we’ll keep our eyes peeled for the MotoGP Monkey over the rest of the weekend!
