Features 17 Mar 2016

Rewind: Miller's MotoGP debut

The Aussie's major step from Moto3 to MotoGP one year ago.

It was one of the biggest storylines of the 2015 MotoGP World Championship pre-season as North Queensland hard-charger Jack Miller moved direct from a 250cc Moto3 machine to LCR Honda’s Open specification RC213V-RS premier class contender.

Miller may have crashed out of Qatar’s first race of the season on the very final lap last year, but the determined Australian rider took a lot from the experience under lights at the Losail International Circuit a full year ago.

In qualifying he slotted into 22nd on the star-studded grid on debut after crashing during the first session. It left him with a lot of work to do, but he was still confident of rapid improvement under race conditions for the first time in MotoGP.

Source: Supplied.

Source: Supplied.

“I’ve been struggling all weekend just rolling through the corner and just as I got on the gas it took a bit of load away from the front and it just seemed to tuck on me,” 20-year-old Miller explained at the time. I managed to get back to the pit but we got caught a bit off guard and we had to rush to put things together on the spare bike – I had to ride it a bit more ‘manually’ than normal.

“We did the best we could, I was just pushing that little bit too hard. I still haven’t quite worked out how to use the soft tyre, but I’m looking forward to the race because I’m much happier on the harder option. It’s just a shame we’re starting a little further back than I would like.”

Miller had been steadily improving his pace throughout the race, but having started from 22nd position on the grid, he was always fighting an uphill battle. After closing in impressively on fellow Open-spec Honda riders Eugene Laverty and Karel Abraham in the dice for 18th position, he and the Czech rider crashed out on the final lap.

“It was a difficult race for us,” Miller confessed. “We got off to a good start and I was going quite good. I made a few mistakes and got a little too tight on the bike but finally got myself back together when we were close to last.

Source: Supplied.

Source: Supplied.

“After that I really started to work, and closed the gap to the other Open bikes. It was working really well, we pulled up and I passed two guys and then caught up Abraham. When I got there I was in too much of a rush to pass and went too deep and lost the front.

“Unfortunately it took myself and him out. Being on the last lap it was a shame not to finish the race, but we learnt so much and I look forward to carrying on the learning process in Texas.”

In the race, Miller became the first rider to transition direct from Moto3 to the premier MotoGP ranks, displaying his talent in battling amongst his more experienced piers to date. And from that point, he only improved in his maiden season, setting him up well to make a larger impact this year with the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS MotoGP team.

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