Jack attack
New factory rider Miller is ready to lead Ducati to their first MotoGP title since Casey Stoner in 2007
Ducati’s new signing is doing everything right. Fastest in testing and regarded by his rivals as the man to beat come round one
‘It’s pressure, but for me it’s a good kind of pressure’
Jack Miller finally gets his chance as a factory MotoGP rider this season as he becomes Ducati’s big hope for title success. The Aussie was the most consistent Ducati rider in 2020 and has continued to mature and make progress over the last few years. Miller moves to the factory squad with his crew chief of four years, Christian Pupulin, as well as his data and electronic engineers and one mechanic. So, has his and Ducati’s time arrived? MCN caught up with the one and only ‘Jackass’ to find out.
How do you reflect on 2020?
It was a year of what could have been – the tear off incident, crashing at Jerez, the bike blowing up at Le Mans and being taken out at Aragon – but you’ve got to look back on it and say ‘OK, we improved our position overall. Seven points off third with all those dramas, means that we weren’t too far away.’
I found something towards the second half of last year with the way I rode the bike and the way I made it turn. I felt relatively good with the bike, especially at the last three races where it really came together, and I found a good understanding with the bike and had plenty of confidence in it.
How does it feel to be a factory rider now?
Stepping up to the factory team this year, we know what our targets are and they’re much clearer. I think the last few years you’re sort of winging it a little and where you come in the championship is where you come, but of course you’re always striving to improve. I think this year it’s more of a focus and, let’s say, more than just a pipedream. Sitting here thinking about winning the championship, leading into this season I think that’s something that’s more realistic now.
How will being a factory rider benefit you?
The manpower is one of the biggest improvements. You have plenty of people at your disposal, which gives more of an opportunity to get the bike working in all of the little areas that you need it to. I’m looking forward to working with a lot of great guys that aren’t necessarily at the front of the garage. Between them and having the factory material, getting plenty of new stuff and getting it first, it’s going to be rather pleasant.
They’ll be more pressure. Are you ready?
Definitely! I perform better under pressure. Looking back at my career, at my home grand prix, when the most pressure is on, is generally when I do the best. When I fought for the Moto3 championship, towards the end of the season when the pressure was on and you couldn’t make any mistakes, was probably the best that I rode all year.
I think pressure is something that is more beneficial for me. I look it as a positive and not a negative. It’s pressure, but it’s a good kind of pressure.
Where can the bike improve? The turning needs work…
The turning isn’t ideal but it’s definitely not as bad as it used to be so we’re heading in the right direction. For sure, when it comes to being in a dog fight with the Yamaha it’s not the easiest thing to go into one of those battles with because you’re trying to cut and turn and trying to get the thing to turn quickly. That’s what you need in a fight like that, but you have to wait a little longer to do that on the Ducati. If it could be a bit more agile, it wouldn’t hurt. But we can’t change too much so it’s what we’ve got, and we have to work with that. I still think it’s a really sharp knife to go to war with.
Where can you improve?
Since I started GP racing, I seem to struggle through the middle part of the season. I need to keep my mind focused as much as I can throughout the entire year and not have those odd difficult weekends throughout the centre of the season.
I learnt a lot last year and I feel that I’ve already improved my consistency. I tried to be there week-in, week-out and to minimise the DNFs as much as I could. That’s something I want to continue working on this year because, like last time, all of the points are going to be very, very important come the end of the season. They always are, but last year was something special and there was very little in it.
You need that Ducati victory first, but is a serious title challenge on the cards?
I’m not too stressed or worried about the victory. The win will come if I’m putting in the right work and doing the right things – if my main focus is winning the championship at the end of the year, the win will come. I definitely think that this year is one of the years where the stars will align. I could be completely wrong; we could have a shitter of a year, but we’ll cross our fingers. I’m doing everything I can to prepare for it, I feel I’ve got the experience, I’ve got the package, the team, the guys, everything. All the stars are there, all the ducks are in a row and now it’s time to knock them over.
Who’s the man to beat?
Franky Morbidelli looked the strongest at the end of last year. He was second in the championship and was a little unlucky with the crash in Austria and everything like that. I think he’s probably my man to beat. You can’t count out the champion either, but Franky is definitely the fastest man on the grid right now.
Is another Aussie-Ducati success on the cards?
Yeah, I think the headlines are there! It’d be amazing, first of all Troy Bayliss getting the win and then Casey winning the championship for them. It would be mega to have that 14 years later. That would be pretty cool.