Miller hopeful ‘big change’ builds momentum
Jack Miller is hopeful a “big change” on Sunday morning can build some momentum for the rest of the 2024 MotoGP season, while he still has some “good options” for 2025.
Miller’s 11th place at last weekend’s Dutch TT was his first points finish in a Grand Prix since COTA, five rounds ago.
It was far from a certainty either with the #43 starting 13th and missing out on points in the Saturday Sprint.
But the Aussie made good progress on the opening lap and also battled for a top 10 berth with Raul Fernandez, Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo, while he was just a tenth away from jumping ahead of the penalised Marc Marquez.
In addition to the valuable points which puts Miller 15th in the championship, he revealed a “big change” on race morning has given him some important confidence with the front end of the KTM RC16.
“P11 feels good here in Assen, nice to get a result on the board,” Miller reflected in his own column on his own website.
“That was our best showing in a while, to be honest. We made a big change in the morning, which had the bike working quite well.
“It was a decent start for us, then dropped off slightly in the early stages, but was able to fight my way back into the race later on.
“Really, it was super nice to have some confidence in the front end, which took me a while to take full advantage of.
“I feel like this is the inkling of momentum we need to trend things in the right direction.”
Although Miller was still five spots short of his KTM teammate Brad Binder, the timing of the return to points was pivotal.
The Aussie is one of the big mysteries in the ongoing silly season after being blindsided from KTM which not only dropped him from the factory outfit, but also overlooked him for Tech3.
As a result Miller is without a ride for 2025 and whilst he was surprised by not staying in the KTM group at Tech3, he still has some “good options”.
These could include Gresini Ducati alongside Alex Marquez and replacing the departing Marc.
Interestingly Miller said he still maintains a strong relationship with Ducati where he took three of his four MotoGP wins with.
“We’ve got some good options and now we’re just trying to understand what’s going to be best for me going forward,” the former Honda and Ducati rider told MotoGP.com
“Fortunately for me, I’ve kept good relationships around the paddock. So whatever seats are available, we’re talking to those people and trying to weigh up our options.
It’s a good lesson for all those kids out there; don’t burn bridges when you walk away from something because you never know when you’re going to need people.
“We’ve got a good relationship with Gigi (Dall’Igna), Claudio (Domenicali) and all the guys over at Ducati. The Ducatisti are also a strong support for myself.”
MotoGP carries on with the German Grand Prix at Sachsenring this weekend.
Image: Gold and Goose
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