The 2016 regulations allowed something that has become extremely rare in Grand Prix: two private drivers managed to win a race in the premier category. The last one to achieve this performance was Toni Elias in 2006 in Estoril aboard his Fortuna Honda.
During last season, the experienced Cal Crutchlow achieved it twice (Brno and Phillip Island) and Jack Miller once, in Assen. Both on a “private” Honda.
However, the Australian pilot's results are mixed to say the least. If his number of falls is not completely prohibitive (Crutchlow has one more to his credit and, with 26, the sad record of the year in MotoGP), the number of points scored is far removed from the Briton's score: 57 for the Marc VDS team emblem against 141 for the LCR driver.
In the end, an 18th place in the general classification (7th for Crutchlow) that his team manager, Michael Bartholemy, imputed to speedweek mainly to his injuries, but also to the lack of experience of the Marc VDS team in the premier category.
Michael, overall you can't be happy with Miller and Rabat's performance. Miller's 18th place in the world championship on a Honda with the HRC contract is disappointing, isn't it? Five Top 10s in two years…
"You are right. We also think we could have done better in the second half of the season with Jack.
But if you look closely at Jack's seasons: if he's in good shape, he's already fast! This was not enough for some races. There were two, three Grand Prix, after which I said: we sold ourselves below our true value.
I think it is important that we can prepare well to start the 2017 season with Jack, unscathed and injury-free. Jack was injured before the 2016 season, then again in the warm-up at Spielberg, and a third time at Misano.
We tested some good hardware during the last test in November, and I think we should have a positive response to that. In Valencia, after the Grand Prix, Jack rode with the chassis that Cal Crutchlow had been using since Brno.
Next year there will be 14 factory bikes because Ducati is building two additional 2017 machines for
Petrucci et
Barbera. However, I think Jack can finish eighth, ninth or tenth in the final 2017 standings. I think we can achieve that with him.”
“I also think that, for our second season in MotoGP, we did not have the know-how of a team like LCR, with Christophe Bourguignon et Cal Crutchlow. LCR has MotoGP experience with Honda dating back to 2006 and “Beefy” (Christophe Bourguignon's nickname) has previously worked with the Kawasaki factory team. Now he has been working with the same Honda motorcycle for many years.
At Marc VDS, MotoGP experience is limited. We now have as team leader for Jack, the Spaniard
Ramon Aurin who worked for two years for
Pedrosa. He was surprised to know why we used the large brake discs for a long time, while others used the small ones. A good team leader can accelerate the development of the driver and get more out of him.”
Jack Miller, for his part, refuses to attribute his numerous falls to his direct transition from Moto3 to MotoGP, arguing that Esteve Rabat, his teammate, although 2 Moto2014 World Champion, did less well than him (See here).
It's true. And false at the same time.
In 2016, and despite 5 withdrawals, Miller scored 57 points, compared to 29 in Rabat for his first year.
But in 2015, Jack Miller's first year in MotoGP, the latter had registered 17 to his credit under the colors of LCR.
The 3-year contract linking the friendly Jack Miller with HRC will end at the end of the current season. At only 22 years old tomorrow, the Australian driver still has time to learn.
