Source: Supplied.

Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Jack Miller made a heroic return to MotoGP action today, with the Australian treating a wind-swept home crowd to two outstanding performances in practice at Phillip Island.

Back in action just three weeks after breaking his right leg in a training accident, Miller’s reward for going through an intensive rehabilitation was an electrifying start to his crucial home race.

“In terms of my physical condition I don’t feel too bad on the bike once the adrenaline kicks in,” Miller reflected. “As you can imagine I’m still missing a bit of strength because at this track there are so many high-speed corners that it can be hard work to change direction.

“I don’t feel as quick in that area as normal, but I’ve had good speed all day and been happy with my pace. Third this morning was a great early boost and I knew it was important to be fast again this afternoon because we don’t know if the lap times can be better in FP3, so one big goal today was to get into the top 10. I love this track and I love the atmosphere and it’s great to see so many fans coming out to support me.”

A faultless lap of 1m29.724s placed Miller in a terrific third place in FP1 this morning, which was only 0.122s behind the best time set by current world championship leader Marc Marquez.

Boosted by his confident ride this morning and with no severe pain or lack of movement restricting him on his Honda RC213V machine, Miller capitalised on his strong start with an equally impressive ride in demanding conditions for this afternoon’s second 45-minute session.

Aware that cooler conditions and potentially wet conditions predicted for FP3 might prevent lap-times being improved tomorrow when crucial places are at stake for Q2, Miller left nothing to chance and he fired in a lap of 1m29.466s to secure a richly-deserved top six.