Jack Miller returned this Monday to a Jerez track which had filled him with happiness on Sunday with this first victory under Ducati colors. His eyes still clouded by the legitimate emotion of the day before, the one who has completely revived after three disappointing first Grands Prix has not strained his talent and is already eyeing Le Mans.
Jack Miller concluded the day of official tests at the Jerez de La Frontera circuit with the 18th performance, after completing 44 laps. A trial run if we are to believe the Australian who was still on cloud nine, a few hours after his day of glory on the Ducati in MotoGP: “ after the race, with the track very rubberized, the conditions are still favorable for a day of testing and the weather also allowed us to work well he said.
« We focused on some aspects that we don't normally have time to work on over the weekend: we repeated tests and tried different configuration settings to determine which ones work best. It's always important to do these "double checks" and, most importantly, we've gathered a lot of useful information. We will now have a few days to rest, but I can't wait to get back on track at Le Mans » finished the teammate of a bagnaia leader of championnat.
Miller: “everyone at Ducati supported me”
More Miller, for the moment, shares the emotion of his success better than his analysis of the motorcycle. The Australian confides: “ From the moment the checkered flag dropped, well, maybe a corner or two before to be honest, I was on this huge rollercoaster of emotions. One minute I was crying like a baby, the next I was pumping my fists and giving everyone high-fives. Feelings are hard to express in words, really. It's been a long time. I was told the victory at Assen in 2016 was my 25th MotoGP race, on Sunday it was my 103rd. The last time I won it was a big shock in the wet, I was such a kid... For this one I've worked like crazy ever since to get here and get this, so it means a lot .
Everyone at Ducati supported me despite the fact that I was far from my best this year until this weekend, and I can't tell you what that means. Of course you hear the noise from outside, and believe me, I was in despair that I couldn't do better. No one can put more pressure on me than I do on myself, that's how I am. I want to do well for myself, for the team, and get the results I think I can get. So for everyone at Ducati, staying with me, being there for the bad times and all that, makes the good even better for me and hopefully for them too. It's incredible to do a double here with my teammate Pecco Bagnaia, it's been a long time since Ducati won here, Loris Capirossi in 2006. I was 11 years old at the time!
Miller: “I always wondered what it would be like to race like Jorge Lorenzo”
It's hard to be overthinking so soon after a win, but this weekend showed me that the approach I took for Jerez paid off. I came here wanting to be quiet and put my head down, working methodically through FP1 on Friday and FP4 before qualifying, just to do laps on my own, do my own thing. So when Fabio Quartararo started to come back towards me in the race, and I knew I wasn't under pressure behind and that I was sitting in second position, it was time to go for it. Take the lead, do the laps like I did in practice, lower your head. There were a lot of laps left, nine I think, and that's a lot of time to be in the lead alone when there's so much at stake. But you have to take a chance, right? I don't think I've ever ridden with such precision in my entire life, 25 laps in a row like that was fantastic.
I've never won a race like that in my life, it's always been battles or something like that at the last corner. I always wondered what it would be like to race like Jorge Lorenzo, to take the lead and make the last five laps, so I'm glad I did it, but it's not as easy as it looks. The more time you have to think, the more you can be wrong.
Miller: “I’m just me and I hope people like it”
Hearing everyone cheering in the pit lane when I came home after the race is one of the greatest memories I will have. I try to be a genuine person, to be happy and say hello to everyone, and maybe that connection means something… I feel like there are a lot of people who want me to succeed. I'm not trying to be anyone else, I'm just me and I hope people like that. Some of them might not like it, but that's okay, I'm keeping it real. Coming back into the pit lane, seeing all these people who were happy for me because I was being myself… it was awesome.
Winning takes a bit of the load off, but we learned something this weekend about how to work and This is what we have to do week in and week out now, because we know it works. But it's for Le Mans in a few weeks. We might have a few beers between now and then. I want to thank everyone for their support and I will try to do it again. As soon as possible, right?
MotoGP Test Jerez: times
Credit classification motogp.com
