09/10/2021 |
Christina Bulpett |
MotoGP
Image: GeeBee Pictures
Jack Miller from Ducati Lenovo stormed the times at MotorLand Aragón on Friday and outperformed free practice in MotoGP with a 1: 47.613.
The Australian started the time attack in the closing stages of the hot afternoon session and circulated almost three-tenths faster than Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and his good friend Cal Crutchlow.
“The old guy is still doing fine, I think he did pretty well,” joked Miller of the Yamaha rider’s returning form. “He’s getting his feet back. I think it’ll be more convenient and show that Yamaha is working pretty well. “
Given the progress he’s made with his Desmosedici compared to last year’s double visit, the Australian admitted he could well feel it. “Of course, corners like Turn 10 and then the last two corners are fantastic, you really noticed the big difference,” he explained.
“We’re still struggling a bit with the setup, just minor things, but those corners where you have to lean for a long, very long time and try to keep a neutral position on the gas or even turn it slowly, the bike turns farther than before. While you had to play a little beforehand, either roll over the edge of the tire or start to get wide. So today I immediately understood from the first laps that it was nice and yes, we can certainly take advantage of that.
“It has to be in the chassis. Chassis, swingarm, that kind of setup. The evolution of the bike, I don’t think there is a specific area, a piece, because if it were, we would have fixed it a long time ago.
“I think it’s a combination of everything and the way the bike has been developed over the past few years and even the engine character, the way the engine works. I think it’s hard to say which piece it is exactly, but I’m sure I won’t complain about it, that’s for sure. “
Miller had a strong performance in the BritishGP, but while he wasn’t exactly glittering all weekend, he knew he had it in the tank.
“I still believe in my potential. Either way, it’s true that we didn’t make it over the weekend, so I was more frustrated than anything. Then at Silverstone, even after maybe not the best qualifying, getting a strong race off the ground and finally going through it was really, really happy.
“It was a really nice feeling to know that you are doing right, training right and doing the right things in order to be there at the end of the race. So hopefully the same thing again this weekend.
“It’s not that bad on one lap, but only the pace seems to make the bike a little nervous,” Miller admitted during Friday’s performance in Spain. “Then one thing we tried today, which I had at the front, somehow hampered the sense of the front.
“Here is a place where you somehow need this contact, because there are many corners that you don’t really drive into with too much weight on the front end. I think this is the area that we will try to work on tomorrow. We tried something today that wasn’t the right direction, so back to the drawing board this evening.
“I think we’ll be right. I will definitely work on my pace, but I often show that the training pace and what I can do in the race is always a little different. Of course I would have liked to have ridden a few more 48s today and I think I had the pace in the afternoon, but when we switched to the other bike I seem to struggle a little more and as I said, we took a step in the wrong direction and it just hampered my confidence. Now we’re going back and will try to work on it for tomorrow. “