Australian Grand Prix week; one of the most spectacular weeks of the local racing season and this year there’s a real buzz about the homecoming of Jack Miller as Australia’s next MotoGP regular next season.

The rise of Miller hasn’t exactly been quick – I remember chatting to him at Phillip Island in 2012 when the struggle on a private Honda was very real – but since then he’s slowly chipped away at it to become the ‘overnight’ sensation that he is now.

It’s exactly what Australia needs for motorcycle road racing and although Jack did head overseas at a particularly young age, he did compete domestically beforehand unlike Casey Stoner before him. So there’s a real sense of him being one of our own and many are extremely excited to see him extract all he can from that KTM on home turf.

With Marc Marquez arriving as world champion this time around, he’d love to make up for that costly mistake made at the Island one year ago, plus Jorge Lorenzo has hit peak form, Valentino Rossi is arguably riding as good as ever and Dani Pedrosa is always there or there abouts.

Source: Ajo Motorsport.

Of particular interest is the increasing form of Andrea Dovisioso at Ducati, with the GP14.2 seemingly a real step forward for the Italian brand. Expect it to be lightening quick down Gardner Straight and, if they can get it handling to his liking, he’ll be right in the mix all weekend and potentially on Sunday.

And it’s not just Jack Miller who will represent the Aussies of course, as Broc Parkes makes his first Phillip Island GP appearance since his 125cc wildcard way back in 1999, but this time of course in the premier MotoGP ranks with Paul Bird Motorsports – potentially his final Australian Grand Prix appearance.

Aside from that in Moto2 we’ll have perennial Queenslander Ant West on the grid, hoping to return to his early-season form, as well as Marc VDS-supported wildcard Aiden Wagner on a Kalex alongside series leader Tito Rabat and ever-fast Finn Mika Kalio.

In Moto3 the Aussies are bursting with talent, because while we’ll undoubtedly miss 2012 podium placer Arthur Sissis (who’d have thought he’d now be out of grand prix racing at that point?), the appearance of Remy Gardner (son of Wayne and star Spanish-based contender) and Olly Simpson (Red Bull Rookies regular) adds some real substance to the field from a local perspective.

So combined with all the international action and the crowning of the two-round Phillip Island Championship champions, this weekend will be one of the best to tune into all year long. And we’ll be covering it the whole way!

Source: Red Bull.

What’s interesting about the domestic competition this weekend is that the bikes are more highly modified than what we’ve been seeing in ASC spec so far this season, and there is no control tyre policy in place. What we can expect for the top riders is more power and, for most, a switch to Pirelli for the round.

On a local front there has been quite a lot of significant movement, with details of the 2015 Australian Superbike Championship continuing to be drip-fed by Motorcycling Australia, and this week the revelation that Kev Curtain will be racing an Aprilia at the Australasian Superbike Championship finale.

It’s quite the shock to see Curtain come back on something other than a Yamaha, especially as indications pointed toward him in a development role when the 2015 YZF-R1 arrives. From the outside looking in, it would seem Kev sees it as an opportunity to have some fun on what is an awesome bit of kit, the RSV4. He might surprise with his results, too.

That’s it for this week’s Cycle Central. Keep an eye on our social media accounts for regular updates; just search ‘CycleOnline’ on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.