MILLER SMASHES RECORD

Jack Miller smashes record – Image: LAT

Australian Jack Miller finished fastest on the opening day of MotoGP’s second test in Qatar, setting a new lap record on his factory Ducati.

By HEATH McALPINE

Miller had previously topped the timesheets with three hours remaining with a 1m 53.826s. This was lowered by Fabio Quartararo during the final hour to a 1m 53.263s and in doing so beat Marc Marquez’s 2019 mark, a 1m 53.380s.

However, Miller came back in the final 15-minutes to finish the day on top with a 1m 53.183s, 0.080s ahead of Quartararo.

“It felt mega,” declared Miller. “When you can put together a lap like that it’s always a nice feeling but I mean we have perfect conditions today.”

“We’ve had no real wind since the last test, plenty of rubber on the ground and to be honest the humidity never came up really that high tonight, so it was a perfect storm.

“I mean it had to be done today, I think. Fabio did it already. I’d done that 53.8 and I thought, ‘Ah that’s alright!’ and then I came back in after I did a little bit of a long run and I saw Fabio had done a 53.2 and I was like ‘Oooh, that’s going alright!’ but no, we threw another tyre on it and I’m pretty happy with that!

“We got through our things that we needed to get through today and I think we made some improvements with the bike too.”

Privateer Ducati rider Johann Zarco, Honda’s Pol Espargaro and the latter’s brother Aleix on an Aprilia joined Miller in the 1m 53s bracket early on, but finished the day fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.

Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales followed his teammate Quartararo in third, 0.327s off Miller’s pace.

Development of Ducati’s new aerodynamic fairing is being led by Miller as the Italian manufacturer attempts to improve the ground effects of its Desmosedici GP21.

Reigning MotoGP champion Joan Mir tested Suzuki’s 2022 engine during the day, however he didn’t run the 2021 GSX-RR chassis after believing it was a backwards step in braking compared to the one used in 2020. Mir finished the day seventh, 0.895s off the pace.

Suzuki teammate Alex Rins was eighth ahead of Miller’s Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia in ninth and Japanese rider Takaaki Nakagami on the LCR Honda completed the top 10, 1.079s in arrears.

South African Brad Binder crashed during the day after doing so twice in the previous test.

Two-time MotoGP race winner Miguel Oliveira was fastest of the KTM entries in 12th, while Valentino Rossi was 13th after testing a new aerodynamic fairing.

LCR Honda’s Alex Marquez crashed for the fourth time during the test, while Stefan Bradl also did likewise after just 15-laps resulting in neck pain.

Testing continues overnight.

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