The Ducati in general and Jack Miller in particular were where expected at the start of the Grand Prix in Qatar at Losail. That is to say at the head. However, the Australian is not yet claiming victory because he fears the Yamaha and in particular that of Morbidelli. Victim of a fall in the morning, the official of the Borgo Panigale brand took revenge during the evening and is counting on the coming headwind to outrun the bikes less powerful than his GP21 and thus give himself a little boost. air until Sunday...
Jack Miller follows in the footsteps of his illustrious compatriot Casey Stoner which materialized with the Italian red motorcycle at losail from 2007 to 2009. However, there is still a way to go before the first step of the podium of this Qatar Grand Prix. Anything can happen, as that fall during FP1 warned: “ this fall was not bad. I'm doing well » said the Australian. “ I had the medium tire and there was also the wind. The guys told me Zarco also fell. I also crashed on my first lap ».
Miller used two different fairings, and used an older unpainted variant after the FP1 dropped. “ It was just because we didn't have enough fairings. So we wanted to be careful. I prefer the new. It's hard to say what the difference is. I like it more, it looks cooler and I'm going to use it racing ».
« The times are incredibly close. I was only seven thousandths off the record. And Zarco was right behind me, fourth. I'm a little afraid of qualifying, we'll see where that takes us. A lot of guys are fast » he said. And Miller spotted one in particular: “ Franky Morbidelli is incredibly fast and hasn't changed tires. I had to change the tire after the fall. From my point of view, Franky is the driver to beat at the moment. I also saw Pecco, it looks very nice. It's always fun when a rider feels so comfortable with the bike ».
Jack Miller talks about the wind that worries organizers
Commenting on the wind in Doha, Miller said: “ What I saw from the forecast is that the wind will come tomorrow and head on. Today we had wind from behind and from the side. It wasn't very pleasant. It's better with a headwind. We have a lot of power and we can then cross the wind a little easier ". Certainly, but the wind also brings sand and if it is too strong, it can question the race. Thus, questions are already being asked about Sunday with an option to run on Monday... It will be recalled that the FP2 was interrupted for about six minutes due to some pieces of wood being blown onto the track from a tower.
In his balance sheet, Jack Miller does not say a word about a rear tire which was the bane of red motorcycles in 2020: “ I've never had a problem with it, unless the grip level is really bad. You have to wait until you arrive on other tracks with less grip. I could then say that we solved the problem ».
Miller also reveals: “ while setting up we first tried something for the afternoon. But then we went back to the test plan. The grip level was a little low in the afternoon, so we initially made the bike a little higher ". In the ranking, Miller is followed by his teammate bagnaia while zarco is fourth on a GP21 decidedly in aid at Losail.
MotoGP Qatar 1 J1: times
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
