MotoGP Test Sepang J2: Jack Miller third despite a second fall

It was with enthusiasm that Miller took charge of the circuit on this second day, after an average first day. “ I had a problem with the first bike in the form of a small fall, explained the Australian. I jumped on the second bike, which was planned anyway, but I had some problems with this machine, which did not allow me to put in a fast lap at the end ».

Jack had finished the first day in eleventh position with a time of 2'00.383, 0.762 behind leader Marc Marquez, and he intended to do significantly better on this second day with his GP19 identical to those ofAndrea Dovizioso (8th at 0.5 on Wednesday) and Danilo Petrucci (5th at 0.4).

At the start of the second day, Miller set the eighth time before midday, 2.00.23, 0.461 behind Andrea Dovizioso who had an identical Desmosedici.

Mid-day standings:

 With 23 minutes left in the session, Jack was the ninth driver to go under 2 minutes, with the ninth time in 1'59.998. He was only 0.436 behind Dovizioso (on an identical bike) and 0.153 behind Danilo Petrucci, then sixth, who was driving the other Desmosedici GP19.

At the end of the day, Álex Rins turned the handle in the right direction and set the best time at the end of the session in 1'59.424. But Maverick Viñales took the fastest time from him in 1'58.897 in the very last laps. We were getting seriously close to the unofficial record established in 1'58.830 by Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati) last year during the tests on January 30, 2018. There were only six hundredths (67 thousandths) left to win! Viñales was then more than half a second ahead of second place Alex Rins, excellent on this Thursday.

Jack Miller offered them quality opposition by setting the third time in 1'59.517, 0.6 behind Viñales, thus ranking as the first independent driver. For example, he preceded the two Ducati GP 19s of Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci. Only a small fall hindered his progress, without serious consequences.

“We worked a lot on the settings, trying many solutions, Miller explained. The feeling with the bike is still very good and already with the medium tire used I managed to go below 2 minutes. Too bad about the fall: it's the second time in two days at turn 9. Tomorrow I have to put an end to this bad tradition .

“I had to adjust some settings because we were a bit on the limit in the braking zone, hence the two accidents, in the same corner and in the same style " Miller said. “ We tried opening the steering angle and we tried closing it, then we finally went to a stiffer spring with less preload and that seemed to work for us.

“For the rest, the bike works really well. I'm still not 100% comfortable, I think the bike has a lot more potential than we've had so far, although in the last corner of my fast lap I had a fright slipping out of the saddle, then all the way down the straight, losing a lot of power. I know I have a lot more up my sleeve.

“One of my biggest tragedies is trying to make sure things go well at the end of the curve. I spin the bike and it gets unstable, but we get grip once it's up.

“I already had a hematoma on my leg when I started the test, a big old hematoma on my thigh, but the guys at Clinica Mobile worked on it,” did he declare. “I went over the handlebars and landed on them. I was a little stiff, especially on the left turns. I feel like I can't lean off the bike too much, but I'm working with the guys now to fix the problem ».

Miller is also working with two different specifications of the Ducati chassis, a new version alongside the one he used in November's post-season testing, but he believes the discrepancies between the two are minimal and do not constitute a big change in performance. “ Not much difference between the two to be honest ", did he declare. “ I can't even say one is better than the other and I would happily go back to the other and be able to run the same time. The difference between these two chassis is very small ».

The big leap without going through Moto2

Going straight from Moto3 to MotoGP was a step that allowed Miller to emulate a few riders such as Garry McCoy and Leon Haslam both of which moved from the lightweight category directly to the top category, but without the power of Honda behind them. The pressure on his shoulders was enormous, but looking back, Miller would not have chosen to evolve any other way: “ There have been many lessons since 2014 ", a smiling Miller said of his move to MotoGP in early 2015. " I came into MotoGP as a guy who people described as a risk, but it was. When Honda called me, I knew that opportunities like this don't come all the time, only when you show your talent and potential. You have to prove that you are worth it and I am proud of the steps we have taken. Having a GP win is obviously a good thing, but being able to say that I'm an established MotoGP rider who had a three-year contract and that was followed by another contract was good.

“I think I proved everyone wrong, but I knew at the time that having that target on my back was also a motivation. When you go home and read on the internet that people were saying it was career ending, it's unpleasant, but I got through it. I'm still in MotoGP and I'm fighting and getting stronger. I feel good at the moment and the next goal is to become a factory rider in the future. The only way to get it is to become the best satellite pilot, but I know it won't be easy. However, if I continue to work hard, I can get there ».

Results of the second day of testing:

Reference times:

Official testing record (pole position): 1'59.053 by Dani Pedrosa (Honda) on 24/10/2015

Unofficial record: 1'58.830 by Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati) during tests on 30/01/2018

Lap record (in the race): 2'00.606 by Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) on 25/10/2015

Photos © Alma Pramac Racing