Miller looks forward to 'bigger and better things'

Jack Miller set a faster Qatar race lap than Pramac Ducati team-mate Danilo Petrucci, on the latest GP18, but the Australian finished five places lower, in tenth, after over-stressing his front tyre.

That is despite Miller opting for the medium compound on the front of his GP17, compared with the soft for Petrucci. All riders chose the same soft rear tyre.

Miller looks forward to 'bigger and better things'

Jack Miller set a faster Qatar race lap than Pramac Ducati team-mate Danilo Petrucci, on the latest GP18, but the Australian finished five places lower, in tenth, after over-stressing his front tyre.

That is despite Miller opting for the medium compound on the front of his GP17, compared with the soft for Petrucci. All riders chose the same soft rear tyre.

"The first thing is to finish, which we managed to do, but I was a little disappointed," admitted Miller, who spent his three previous MotoGP seasons on a Honda. "The rear tyre was great the whole race, but my front tyre…

"I had not a bad start, but got boxed in a bit at turn one and had to use a fair bit of the front tyre to make some overtaking manoeuvres.

"I worked to catch back onto the front group and was able to stick there for about three laps, but then on the right side I started to have big moments every time I released the brake and opened the throttle to take away the engine brake.

"The front tyre was just done.

"We live and learn. I'm happy to finish and get the first race out of the way and look forward to bigger and better things here with the Ducati.

"I was really happy with how the bike behaved throughout the whole race, especially the rear tyre and the performance of the engine in being able to overtake. It was a pleasure."

Miller could also take comfort from being the top GP17 rider across the line, holding off former Marc VDS team-mate Tito Rabat by half-a-second.

The Assen 2016 winner doesn't feel they need to drastically alter the set-up to try solve the front tyre issue and is hoping the Michelin selection in Argentina will be more to his liking.

"We've got a really good base package at the minute, so nothing really stands out that we've got to improve," he said. "Especially here, we were struggling with the tyre life on the front. But I know Marc and a few other guys were struggling also, stuck in-between compounds sort of thing.

"Hopefully tyre choice will be a little different in Argentina and we'll be able to get a bit closer."

Miller finished 14.594s from factory Ducati race winner Andrea Dovizioso.

 

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