Miller 'hit a wall a little bit’ but sees huge potential, 'rough' day three...

Jack Miller has finally completed his first real time attack simulation of day three at the Sepang MotoGP Test, after suffering a crash at turn one before lunch.

Robert Jones

12 Feb 2023

Having fitted soft tyres in a bid to light up the timing screens and move out of the bottom positions, the three-time MotoGP race winner instead saw his first time attack simulation end abruptly after crashing at turn one.

Miller, who has now jumped up to 15th as it stands with less than two hours of the Sepang test to go, touched on why day three has been a struggle so far.

The Australian added: "It’s been a rough third day trying to come to grips with this thing, I guess you could say. Had a small layover as soon as I put the new tyres in and didn’t get past turn one which wasn’t ideal.

"But no, I was able to pick the bike back up and do a lap on it. I didn’t want to come back in without doing at least one lap. I’m just trying to understand what we need from the bike.

"We sort of hit a wall a little bit, so just understanding the geometry and getting myself more comfortable. We made a step right before lunch and were pretty happy with that.

"We’re making another step just to understand what is the limit and to basically gauge where we’re at in terms of balance.

"We can see on the data that I’m struggling quite a bit compared to the other boys mid corner and just getting things to rotate and to get it off the corner. It's all about going through these motions and trying to understand the bike and to adapt with it the best we can."

Like many riders across the grid, Miller has focused heavily on getting through KTM’s extensive testing program, although setting a representative time attack run was clearly at the forefront of his mind before heading back out on-track.

"[There’s been] quite a lot of development," stated Miller. "I mean, we haven’t had a time attack yet. Of course, that’s one of the key things we’re going to need whether we go for that this afternoon, I’m not sure.

"I’d like to and no one likes seeing themselves in the bottom half of the timing screen. But that’s not the main focus for us.

"The focus is to try and build this thing up and get it somewhere reasonable for Portimao."

While lap times may not suggest that Miller and KTM are one of the strongest heading into the new season, Miller believes he’s finding improvements with every run on the RC16.

Key to helping Ducati achieve its success over the last few seasons, KTM could now be in a great position to benefit from Miller’s experience which is something they also have with the returning Pol Espargaro.

"Every day I seem to hop on it and find something new which is good," said Miller. "It’s exciting for me as well and trying to adapt because so many things are different. You can really see some of the positives in there.

"It’s just about understanding what way I need to ride this bike to exploit its strong points.

"We’re losing quite a bit of corner speed which is generally my strong point so we’re trying to get the bike to a position where I’m happy with it and the balance is right to get it to rotate."