Source: Supplied.

Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Jack Miller made a sensational start to the Spanish MotoGP round in Jerez today, with the Australian finishing in the top three in two practice sessions run in contrasting conditions.

Cool, wet and windy conditions greeted the paddock for the start of FP1, as the MotoGP field kicked off preparations for the historic 3000th grand prix on Sunday.

Miller is recognised as one of the most accomplished wet weather riders in MotoGP after he stormed to a stunning success in last June’s Dutch TT at the legendary Assen track. And his skill and finesse in wet conditions quickly came to prominence when he set third best time to finish just 0.2s behind the best pace.

The afternoon’s second session started under dry and cloudy skies, but the early challenge was safely negotiating numerous damp patches that were scattered around the 4.4-kilometre track. Conditions improved throughout the session and Miller took advantage of a fully dry surface to log a stunning lap of 1m39.964s for P2 overall.

“I felt really comfortable on the bike in the wet this morning and was happy to be battling inside the top three,” Miller commented. “The start of this afternoon’s session was a bit tricky because there were still quite a few damp patches around, but at the end it was completely dry and I was happy with my lap-time.

“I did a 1m39.964s and that’s my best lap here at Jerez. I did that time alone as well and I just feel confident and comfortable with how the bike is behaving around this track. I’ve got some great feeling from the front-end and I can put the bike where I want to without being too close to the limit. It’s a brilliant way to start the weekend and hopefully we can build on this for a strong result on Sunday.”

In what was Miller’s best lap of the historic Jerez circuit, it gives him great confidence that he can secure a fourth successive top 10 finish of the season in Sunday’s 27-lap race.