Miller unaware of Repsol Honda rumours

 Jack Miller said he was unaware of a report in the Spanish media saying he had rejected an offer to return to Honda as MotoGP champion Marc Marquez's team-mate in 2019.

HRC, under the previous Livio Suppo leadership, opted not to re-sign the young Australian when his three-year contract expired at the end of last year.

That sent Miller into the arms of Ducati, which placed the former Moto3 title contender in the satellite Pramac team, where he has impressed with a pole position and pair of fourth places.

Ducati has the option of re-signing Miller for 2019, either for a move to its factory team or, as seems more likely, to remain at Pramac but on the same GP19 machinery as the official team.

But AS reports that Repsol Honda, now led by Alberto Puig, was willing to pay one-million euros to buy Miller out of his Ducati clause and put him alongside Marquez next season, at the expense of Dani Pedrosa.

"I haven't turned down anything," responded Miller, when asked about the report.

Would you turn it down?

"Repsol Honda? I'd have to think about it. Depends…"

Pressed on his Ducati option, which expires at the end of June, the 23-year-old said:

"Everything is possible. I'm happy where I am, but of course if factory teams are knocking you don’t shut the door.

"But anyway, I'm happy where I am. We are on a one-year-old bike and doing a really good job. So I'm happy to keep working and I feel the podium today was possible.

"We lost that opportunity, but it's coming sooner rather than later."

Miller is the latest in a long line of riders to be linked with the to-be-confirmed Repsol Honda seat after the likes of Johann Zarco, Cal Crutchlow, Joan Mir and Jonathan Rea - assuming Pedrosa is not retained for what would be a 14th season.

Rea's manager Chuck Aksland told Crash.net: "In Le Mans I did have some discussions with Alberto. Is it a possibility? Until they sign another rider I’d like to believe there would be a chance JR could be considered."

Asked about the ongoing discussions regarding his 2019 team-mate, and why some riders might not take up the chance, Marquez said:

"You need to ask Honda, but I always say I want to have the strongest team-mate. I hear a few riders say 'no'... We've won a few races this year, but the others can see that the Honda is not an easy bike and you must push a lot. I don't know how many crashes I saved this weekend. You must ride on the limit and that is difficult."

Miller suffered his first Ducati DNF due to an early fall in Sunday's Mugello race, caused by a bottoming of the suspension on a full fuel load.

"I just went into Turn 4, quite calm, but right at the wrong point hit the bottom of the fork and she just went down," he said.

"Since the Thailand test we found out that we have a problem with the bottoming. So we normally we add a bit of preload and drop the front to have the same position, but we didn't do that for here. We didn't feel it was necessary. But it is what is it.

"It sucks but these are the moments that make the other ones better.

"It's nothing new to me, I've had plenty of crash outs before. But this is the year we can make mistakes, let's say, because next year I want to be fighting for that title and this will mean a lot more.

"We're learning, making steps, we're in the right way. It's just a minor setback. Not the end of the world. Still 13 rounds to go. We'll have a few more opportunities I'm sure."

Miller's team-mate Danilo Petrucci, thought to be favourite to replace Mugello winner Jorge Lorenzo at the factory Ducati team in 2019, finished in seventh.