It was a great opening day of the season for Alma Pramac Racing’s Jack Miller as he ended Free Practice Friday at the VisitQatar Grand Prix in P3 – and as the quickest Ducati rider.
The Australian, who has a GP19 at his disposal this season, was happy with both the race and qualifying pace he showed in FP1 and FP2, leaving him in good spirits ahead of Saturday and Sunday in Qatar.
“Positive feeling. This morning in the first free practice we were able to keep the same tyres the whole way through, which was surprising to me,” began Miller. “I did my best lap on lap 17 with them. The race pace on the used tyres is really good. It’s something we worked on a lot at the test here and then again today. So, the feeling is good for that.
“And then today in the second free practice, I did a run of 10 laps consistently in the 55s. It was quite a long run to be honest for a Free Practice, but it was again to work on the feeling. Then we put two tyres in at the end and here we are. The lap time is important, of course, because we never know what the conditions will be like tomorrow for FP3. But I’m happy to have that one in the bank.”
A lot has been said about the 8 o’clock start time that is scheduled for Sunday, with some riders pushing for the race to be started earlier. But Miller doesn’t seem fazed, and is confident he can use either the medium or soft rear for the race, along with the medium front.
“With it being 8:00 pm by the time we started, which is the time that we’ll race, I feel confident both on the medium front and the medium rear or the soft rear, so we have a good feeling on both tyres. I’m very happy.”
P3 stands Miller in good stead for qualifying, but the MotoGP™ race winner is cautious about what conditions the premier class will face in the desert, while also expecting it to be a titanic battle.
“For tomorrow, the biggest thing is what the weather will be like. Whether it’s windy or sandy or whatever, here in the desert we never know. But for sure tomorrow’s qualifying, if it’s anything like the rest of the weekend has been with everyone being so close the moment, it will be interesting.”
By MotoGP
