Spanish Grand Prix, Jerez, MotoGP: Jack Miller “It's starting to look like a year where we can change a few things”

The fight is still intense to know who will be Andrea Dovizioso's teammate within the official Ducati Corse team next year. Danilo Petrucci, fifth in the provisional general classification with 30 points and current teammate of DesmoDovi in the factory team, is very seriously threatened by Jack Miller who is only a very small point behind him in the classification, in sixth position. with 29 points.

The journey of the two men at the start of the season is very different, with regularity for Petrucci and his three sixth places in the first three Grands Prix, against more brilliance for Miller with a fourth place in Argentina and a third in the United States, but unfortunately a blank result in Qatar during the opening GP.

At Losail, the Australian was in the leading trio at the start of the race, occupying second position behind Dovizioso. Then he had saddle problems, and he had to throw it away mid-race. “ When I threw the saddle away, I was outside the top ten. I had to sit very centrally on the bike and ride much more inclined than usual. This ruined the sidewall of my front tire. I experienced strong understeer and a lot of vibration, especially in fast corners. Aleix and Nakagami caught up with me... I slowed down and slowed down again. That's why I came back to the pit. It was the safest option, otherwise I would have fallen ».

Superstitious or not, he retired on the thirteenth lap. “ Maybe I stood under a ladder too many times or met too many black cats. Hopefully we won't have any more bad luck for the rest of the season ».

In Argentina, for the second round, Jack qualified fifth and finished the GP fourth, a second and a half behind third, Dovizioso. Miller then believed that “ I am very happy with the result. But maybe my strategy could have been better. I had friction with Morbidely. I should have left him alone and bided my time. I had a medium tire before but I probably should have taken the harder one. However, I felt better with the medium tire so I opted for this one. But we can improve this. It was cool to fight for a podium today with Vale and Dovi ».

In Austin, qualified fourth, Jack was on the podium for the first time this year, with Álex Rins and Valentino Rossi. He finished first Ducati rider despite the very daring choice of two soft Michelin tires. An interesting choice in the first part of the race, but which then had to be managed during the second… “My front tire was the problem in the end " admitted Miller. “ But the champagne was very good! We took the soft tires and it was a risk, of course. I then managed my lead over Dovizioso. The tire was at the end of its rope. I was over the limit when I had to keep Dovizioso at bay.” Before adding, so that Gigi Dall'Igna and Paolo Ciabatti do not forget: “ I love Ducati and my goal is to join the factory team ».

Never a podium at Jerez in 5 years

The Australian's Andalusian Grand Prix adventure began brilliantly in 2014 with 4th place in qualifying during his first Moto3 GP in Jerez. He finished fourth in the race and never did so well subsequently in MotoGP: 20th in 2015, 17th in 2016, crashing with Bautista in the first corner in 2017, and 6th last year, his best result until now in MotoGP at the Ángel Nieto Circuit.

There is no doubt that Miller would like to improve his statistics. With his third place in Austin, Jack reached the podium for the first time since winning the Dutch Grand Prix at Assen in 2016. Miller now leads the independent team rider standings with 29 points , ahead of Takaaki Nakagami (22).

This leadership usefully complements the overall performance of Ducati which is at the top of the drivers' classification with Dovizioso and 54 points, the manufacturers' classification with 57 points and the teams' classification with 84 points. Nice domination so far.

On his personal website, Jack said “ Since we glued the seat, it's been a rose garden... I'm now on the verge of a top five in the championship, and that will be our goal once we get to Jerez. “It’s a GP that generally hasn’t worked out so well for me since I’ve been in MotoGP, but it’s starting to look like a year where we can change a few things.”