Jack Miller says MotoGP’s return to Silverstone in 2021 for the UK Grand Prix highlighted the “big step” Ducati has made with its motorcycle in terms of development.
The MotoGP’s last visit to Silverstone was in 2019 when the 2020 British GP was scrubbed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The best Ducati at the last British GP was Danilo Petrucci in seventh, about 19.6 seconds behind race winner Alex Rins on the Suzuki. Miller finished the race at Silverstone on Friday in second place overall, albeit 0.512 seconds behind a dominant Fabio Quartararo on the Yamaha.
The Australian says the flowing nature of the Silverstone circuit has shown how far the Ducati has advanced since 2019.
“At first it was good to be back on the Silverstone track,” said Miller. “It’s a real old-school racetrack, so a lot of different cornering styles.
“The track is in good condition. It’s really cool to compare my feelings that I remember from 2019 to 2021 and how much the bike has evolved over that time and period, and the positives of the bike – how much, especially in the first sector Going through the sequences of left / rights, that’s a big step.
“It was one of those moments when you think about how the bike is going and how much progress we’ve made with this bike. It was a really good day, I felt good from the start. “
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When asked if the bike was now less physically ridden at Silverstone, Miller said this was “the main thing” for the Ducati 2021 – which in turn allowed him to race at a much faster pace.
“Your timing is a lot easier in this first sequence, but the physicality of the actual change of direction also makes the bike a lot easier,” he added. “You don’t have to use so much force, put so much input into the handlebars to achieve the same result.
“Of course it’s definitely better and it makes me excited to go to places like Texas. Also the tire care, because you don’t have to stick to the lean angle as much, but also at racing speed.
“It’s a lot easier to be more precise, you can get the timing right pretty much every lap.”