Jack Miller: “You can’t see what’s coming up, you’re following with blind faith”

Jack Miller was forced to race with “blind faith” amid the tricky conditions at the Americas MotoGP.

The chaos on the starting grid at the Circuit of the Americas - highlighted by Marc Marquez and Maverick Vinales remarkably sprinting off their bikes and into the pits - was tipped to favour Miller.

The new Pramac Yamaha rider has earned a reputation for riding in conditions that some rivals cannot master.

From ninth, Miller has explained the treachery of the opening laps at COTA.

"The bike was working well,” he said.

“We got away to a decent start, which is half the battle here.

“Especially that first lap here was kind of chaotic with all of the patches.

“And when you've got all the bikes in a row, you can't see what's coming up, you're just following with blind faith.

“But I got a good start and then settled into my rhythm."

Miller finished the grand prix in fifth - he was the top Yamaha rider in both qualifying, and when it counts most on the Sunday.

It was another step in the right direction for the experienced rider whose MotoGP future was at-risk when he lost his KTM ride last year.

His gap to the COTA winner was 11 seconds, compared to 22 seconds last year.

So far, Pramac’s decision to recruit Miller is paying dividends for the overall Yamaha project which is desperately trying to rejuvenate itself.

But he knows Ducati remain firmly at the front, after getting his closest look at them for a while.

"We're chasing the red bikes at the moment,” Miller said.

“Obviously, they hit the nail on the head with last year's package because that's really strong as well.

“But, like you say, we've got extra testing and all the things to try to improve. So, as they say, Rome wasn't built in a day."

The fourth round is in Qatar on April 11-13.