Miller: We need to work on saving tyres

Jack Miller’s promotion to MotoGP has set tongues wagging up and down the paddock but the rookie is making progress in adapting to the bigger machine and the physical demands that it involves.

A long race simulation on the final day saw Miller complete16 fast laps and his pace was promising however there was more of a drop off in laptime compared to the other Open riders. Afterwards Miller was pleased with the progress made since the opening test of the year when he found the physicality of Sepang much more challenging.

“Our long run was better than Sepang 1 but it’s still not quite where I want to be,” admitted Miller. “Overall we’re not quite saving the tyres as much and for the Qatar test this is one of our big goals and already from here we have to work on saving tyres and my riding style.”

Having impressed so much at Valencia and a good turn of speed at Sepang 1 Miller struggled at the start of the week with more and more electronics being used on the bike instead of the minimalistic approach that the team had been using for Miller’s first three tests, including a private test at Sepang.

“We’re working with the electronics now and playing around with the chassis to try and make some adjustments to it. I started to get more comfortable and I was able to push harder with every exit and get more confidence. At the moment we’re still not where I’d like to be but we’re making steps forward.

“The first two days I was a little bit disappointed because I wasn’t quite where I wanted to be but after the test we’re happy. I look forward to Qatar because it’s another track and it’s a different style of track. It’ll be good to test the Honda on a different type of circuit.”