Image: Supplied.

Australia’s Jack Miller concluded Friday practice a strong second at Phillip Island, with the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider confident he can make more improvements at the 16th round of the 2023 MotoGP season.

Marking his first home GP onboard the RC16, Miller concluded the practice session yesterday just 0.148s from the lead, completing a KTM 1-2 behind teammate Brad Binder.

“Feeling good, bike is working really well, can’t complain at all,” Miller said. “You never can complain when you get Phillip Island in these sorts of conditions, it wasn’t windy, it was beautiful, nice and hot. Not what we are particularly used to down here so we will take it.

“Happy with how the day unfolded, every time we exited, everything we did on the bike we were able to find a little bit more and make myself a little bit more comfortable, find a little bit more speed. There is a little bit of tidying up to do over the lap, but I feel confident that we can do that.”

Admittedly, Miller’s best lap of a 1m28.091s was not perfect, with the number 43 further outlining areas where he potentially find more time.

“I mean I kind of fired it in quite hot into turn six on my best lap and lost a bit of time,” Miller added. “Turn two as well, I had Jorge [Martin] on the inside there, so I couldn’t quite get over the curb as much as I would have liked.

“There’s a couple of little things, even turn 10, it was quite tricky, as you saw a few blokes went down, I feel like I fumbled a little bit through there. It is never a perfect lap, but I feel like we have a little bit left to tidy her up.”

A schedule change in response to the inclement weather forecast sees Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix race effectively swap with the sprint, with today a busy and crucial day for MotoGP riders with free practice two and qualifying ahead of the 27-lap race.