Miller, Pramac Ducati “pretty much shaken hands” on new deal

Jack Miller says he’s close to finalising his new Pramac Ducati MotoGP deal for 2020 as the finer details hold up an official confirmation heading into the Czech Republic round.

Following MotoGP’s summer break, Miller had been expected to announce he has re-signed with Pramac Ducati for next season after the Italian manufacturer opted to retain Danilo Petrucci in the factory squad alongside Andrea Dovizioso.

Miller, Pramac Ducati “pretty much shaken hands” on new deal

Jack Miller says he’s close to finalising his new Pramac Ducati MotoGP deal for 2020 as the finer details hold up an official confirmation heading into the Czech Republic round.

Following MotoGP’s summer break, Miller had been expected to announce he has re-signed with Pramac Ducati for next season after the Italian manufacturer opted to retain Danilo Petrucci in the factory squad alongside Andrea Dovizioso.

While Miller says he and the team are unable to officially confirm the deal, the Australian rider says nothing has changed and the delay hinges on finalising the team’s budget as it prepares to run two factory-specification GP20s next year.

“I am at the same point. It hasn’t changed. The team and I have pretty much shaken hands but the team is finalising it,” Miller said. “There is a lot going on behind the scenes in terms of his [Bagnaia’s] 2020 bike and my 2020 bike, so we are organising how we are going to get the budget and all that stuff.

“It just takes time and it is quite a big change in terms of the team and budget. From the team and Ducati. But it takes time.”

Looking towards the restart of the current MotoGP campaign, Miller is relishing the upcoming rounds at Brno and Spielberg which are tracks that should suit the Ducati package compared to the previous rounds where the Italian manufacturer struggled for performance compared to its rivals.

“Austria is not a track I have done particularly well at in the past but it is a track Ducati has done really well at,” he said. “I am excited to get there and see what we can do this year.

“The bike is working well and I really like this place here also even if the results maybe don’t show. It is one of the last old school tracks with a big layout, long lap, a lot of fun. I hope we can do a decent job, the bike worked really well here last year so it should be alright this year.

“For me, Barcelona wasn’t too bad but Assen and Sachsenring were complete disasters in both races, even if it didn’t look too bad at Sachsenring, but I didn’t feel good. When you don’t have that feeling, you just don’t have that feeling.

“I am hoping we can get it back here and ride more in our comfort zone and be as fast as we have been at other tracks.”

Miller is seventh in the MotoGP riders’ standings  after taking sixth place last time out at the German round.

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