Jack Miller ends first official test second for Ducati
In his second day with the factory Ducati team, Jack Miller completed 57 laps on his way to finishing P2 +0.077s off top spot in the first of two MotoGP tests in Qatar.
Aleix Espargaro was once again leading the way as he did on day one in the closing hours, before Miller and eventual pacesetter Fabio Quartararo took over the top spots in the final hour.
Lap times have not only been quick so far but also very close between the entire field. And with the championship battle in 2021 expected to be as close as ever, Ducati will be hoping their work over the winter gives both Miller and team-mate Francesco Bagnaia the chance to be in the title mix.
While there is still plenty of work to take place during the final three days testing, Miller is happy with the start Ducati have made, saying: "Yeah, definitely. For sure the job is still not over, we still have another three days testing here.
"So we will see what we can change in three days of going around the same circuit. I'm pleased with what they've done with the restrictions the teams had.
"So I think they did a fantastic job. I'm looking forward to racing this GP21, but everybody is always close here. Qatar is one of those tracks that a lot of bikes work well at and it'll be even closer this year after five days of testing here for the race."
It was another big day of testing the new aero packages for Ducati which includes an updated fairing. Michele Pirro was the first to try this, and today Miller spent most of the day comparing the different fairings available to him.
"Yeah, I had the new one on for pretty much the majority of today. Only doing a back-to-back with the older one.
"I'm pretty positive with it, we'll have to look at it a little bit more to see if they can develop it further or if that's what we've got for the season.
"Pretty happy with how it's going, we didn't lose any speed or anything like that, so it's always a positive."
Tyres are always a huge talking point at this time of year for teams and riders, but Qatar unlike most circuits presents unique challenges with the day and night running.
Miller was asked about the tyre situation and if they will have it more under control compared to last season.
The Australian said: "I hope so. I definitely hope so. Here, it's kind of strange the tyre situation.
"We're using the medium during the day and we can use it pretty much while the sun is up, both front and rear, but then as soon as it gets dark, we jump directly onto the soft/soft combination, which the soft front is not really that soft.
"It's more like a medium we have at a lot of other places. But I felt like we got a little bit of the tyre situation under control towards the end of last year but you never know until you get to these tracks and can see. I hope so. But we will see."
