Miller: I was as shocked as anyone

Jack Miller feels there has been no breakthrough moment in his turnaround in form for Pramac Ducati has he produced a surprise front row in qualifying at Misano.

Despite battling to get into the automatic Q2 spots in the damp FP3 session, Miller became the surprise package in qualifying by bolting to second place just a quarter of a second off Jorge Lorenzo who needed lap record pace to take pole position.

The Australian rider admits he has suffered a dip in form and results since the Italian round at Mugello when he crashed out on the opening lap with just one top 10 over the past six races.

But after showing encouraging pace at Silverstone before Sunday’s race was cancelled and following it up with his second front row start of the season at Misano, Miller feels the combination of stronger circuits and regaining his form has coincided with an upturn in his performances.

“I think I was as shocked as anyone,” Miller said. “We didn’t do the test here but I had good speed at Silverstone and really good speed at the test in Aragon earlier this week.

“I am really happy for tomorrow’s race as we’ve got good pace on both tyres, soft and medium, we tried both used [tyres] in the FP4 and had good solid pace.

“I think it is going to be a long hot race like Jorge said and I’ll try to mix it up with these boys and we’ll see what happens.”

Miller has draw comparisons to his 2014 campaign, when he finished runner-up in the Moto3 world championship, as he suffered a similar drop in results during the summer rounds before fighting back with pole position and a podium finish at Misano.

“To be honest I wish I could tell you as it seems to me like it is 2014 all over again for me,” he said. “I always struggle in those few tracks we’ve been to.

“I was trying and doing everything the same more or less but it took for Austria for it to sink in when I was fighting in the race but I cooked the front tyre. I ran off into the gravel and it was a shocking race for me.

“It really took me to hit that low point and go okay step back, hit the reset button and go again. It seems to have worked.”

Miller's second place in qualifying marks his best result since taking pole position in the mixed conditions in Argentina earlier this year.