Miller ‘having a lot of fun’ on Ducati debut

Jack Miller could barely conceal his excitement after tasting Ducati machinery for the first time at Valencia, the 22-year old reveling in several of the bike’s features and declaring this to be “exciting times for me in my career.”

At the time of writing, the Australian was fifth on the time sheets, with only Maverick Viñales, Johann Zarco, Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi ahead. Several key points of the GP17’s performance stood outing, including its front-end feeling, the mechanical grip and, of course, top speed.

“A lot of fun so far,” said Miller. “[I’m] Really enjoying my time with the team, not only on the bike but also with the crew and the staff I have here. It's exciting times for me in my career at the moment, and I'm really looking forward to spending more time and more laps on the bike.

“I'm just starting to get comfortable with it now. I'm really enjoying riding it, so we will see what this afternoon will bring. But the way that I've adjusted to the bike directly and the way I feel on the bike, I'm really comfortable on it, so it just needs more laps and more time to keep going.

“Lap time wise it's two tenths off my best time here so far, but we haven't touched a thing on the bike yet, so hopefully this afternoon, we'll go through and we'll play around a little more once I become more at home, more adapted to the bike and we'll see what the lap times and do.”

On the differnces between the MotoGP machinery he has ridden in the past, Miller told reporters, “Different. It's different. As would be expected. It's a completely different manufacturer, completely different bike, and I'm enjoying it. It's behaving well, I get a really good reading off the front tyre, especially this morning when we went out and the track was so dirty and so cold, especially on the right-hand side.

“I had a good feeling already from that. The mechanical grip from the bike is there, I feel really good contact feeling with the rear tyre, and of course the speed is there as well, we all know the Ducati's been one of the strongest on the straights, and it's definitely nice to get the thing wound up, that's for sure.

“The bike definitely doesn't wheelie as much as the other thing did, and I'm enjoying that, because I can focus more on riding, especially on a tight go-kart track like we've got here at Valencia. Makes it easier just to focus on the line.

“The rest of it, just step by step adapting, how the bike accelerates, how the bike enters, and also mid-corner, and the different lines you sometimes have to take. The two are completely different.”

On his expectations ahead of rolling the machine out of pit lane, Miller added, “I was expecting of course a bike that had good contact on the rear, good exit, but also I'm really surprised at how good the entry is on the corner.

“And also mid-corner, the feel I get, especially through the double right here [Turn 4 and Turn 5] where you don't really touch the brakes that much in the second part and you roll in there, the bike's turning really well and I'm having a lot of fun.

“This morning on a completely used tyres I got a little bit carried away there, and I was able to spin the hell out of the tires. So I definitely have to be a little bit more gentle on the wrist, I think, but the rest of the bike seems to suit my style. The braking stability is really, really good on it, I haven't really found the limit on it in terms of braking, because it's just so strong.”