Interesting Article on Miller - curious for opinions

shaunna · Mar 6, 2017

Hi All,

I came across this interesting interview with Jack Miller:

https://www.motorsport.com/motogp/news/q-a-with-motogp-rider-jack-miller-877941/

I follow MotoGP, love watching every race however I don't have the same degree of analysis as some of you all do. So am curious and wanting to hear peoples opinion on the above article. Do you think he'll ever get a factory bike? As a fellow Aussie I hope so, but not entirely sure on the probability of that one :unsure:

Deefer Dogg · Mar 6, 2017

His last answer says it all. Very early to say about factory seats as all the top ones are contracted for 2 years I think.
2 years is a huge amount of time in the world of Motogp. What is going for him is the backing from Honda, allowing him to skip Moto2. Probably to his detriment. Now he's getting to grips with the gp bikes I certainly hope he fulfills his potential.

Theo · Mar 6, 2017

I'm not to sure, he strikes me as the "nearly man" a win it or bin it type, rather like another racer

TBO I don't like HRC, they seem to me to be the slime in the sandwich called MotoGP and they shouldn't have pulled him straight from Moto3, a few more accidents like he's had and it could ruin his chances.
However I admire all the racers for their dedication to entertaining us all, after all who gives a .... about most of the aberrations that inhabit the outfield, they are just viewers.

michaelm · Mar 6, 2017

Theo said:
I'm not to sure, he strikes me as the "nearly man" a win it or bin it type, rather like another racer
TBO I don't like HRC, they seem to me to be the slime in the sandwich called MotoGP and they shouldn't have pulled him straight from Moto3, a few more accidents like he's had and it could ruin his chances.
However I admire all the racers for their dedication to entertaining us all, after all who gives a .... about most of the aberrations that inhabit the outfield, they are just viewers.

He reportedly thinks he has made a major step in pre-season testing in terms of riding and set up for this year's bike, and his times in testing have recently been fairly impressive, particularly given he usually is faster in races than in practice if he doesn't crash and apparently didn't have the full power engine.

I am not sure about whether going straight to the premier class was bad or good, I don't think he or Honda anticipated their bike being so bad the last 2 seasons, and Marquez junior hasn't necessarily advanced his cause overly by taking the "right" path via moto 2.

I would still see him as having some sort of rough chance of replacing Dani eventually if he performs well this year, which may have been the original plan. He could be supplanted at any time by someone who looks more promising in the other classes though, and I agree he doesn't currently look like an absolutely top echelon talent.

p4p1 · Mar 6, 2017

Last year didn't go so well for Miller apart from the win due to injury. He was also riding the 2015 bike and we all know how good that bike was, I don't know how badly the guys riding the 2015 bikes were effected by the bikes being designed for the Bridgestones last year as well. In 2015 on the POS Honda customer bike be beat former world champ Nicky Hayden to become the top customer Honda. This is a big year for him though and should give everyone an idea of where he is at and where he could be. It seems some are hoping he fails because he did it 'wrong' and skipped moto2. But surely there's nothing better to prepare you for riding a MotoGP bike than riding a MotoGP bike. He's probably had just as many battles in the premier class finishing in the middle or towards the end as he would've if he was in moto2. The advantage would be that he was able to learn on the bike bike.

shaunna · Mar 6, 2017

Thanks guys appreciate the input/perspective

Gaz · Mar 6, 2017

Sorry but I don't go for this 'must graduate through Moto2' stuff as for mine it is about getting to the top class as fast as possible and then learning. Besides, for every Moto2 rider that follows the 'accepted' path very few have gone on to win championships (only 1 comes to mind) and only a couple more have won races (and before the heart palpitations start, 250ccGP is not Moto2 but a different class altogether)..

Plus, as history has shown numerous times, a rider may be average in one class and exceptional in another, or be one of those riders who's career suffers by the so called 'rights of passage' simply stagnating the rider's development.

Now for me, I cannot see Miller winning a world championship as he is in an era where we have some extremely talented riders and, well, let us be honest, to date his opportunity has been limited by numerous injuries, a bike that is best described as poor and being in lower pecking order machines. Face it, he does not bring dollars to the table so his opportunity will be limited until he is able to use his talent on machinery that is at or close to the top guys so that he can harass them until his heart is content, then, and only then may a door open.

Yes he is signed by HRC but then so are a lot of riders and based on his opportunity (bike/equipment) that signing means squat in the real world.

Miller has talent but he is on lesser equipment, new team, serious injuries to start last year and as they say, you can teach a fast crasher not to crash, but you cannot teach a slow rider to be fast. He is fast (bike comparitive) and of late, has crashed a lot less so maybe he is maturing into the rider that HRC wanted to skip Moto2 and that many talent spotters rate exceedingly highly on ability.

AJV80 · Mar 7, 2017

Gaz said:
Sorry but I don't go for this 'must graduate through Moto2' stuff as for mine it is about getting to the top class as fast as possible and then learning. Besides, for every Moto2 rider that follows the 'accepted' path very few have gone on to win championships (only 1 comes to mind) and only a couple more have won races (and before the heart palpitations start, 250ccGP is not Moto2 but a different class altogether)..

Plus, as history has shown numerous times, a rider may be average in one class and exceptional in another, or be one of those riders who's career suffers by the so called 'rights of passage' simply stagnating the rider's development.

Now for me, I cannot see Miller winning a world championship as he is in an era where we have some extremely talented riders and, well, let us be honest, to date his opportunity has been limited by numerous injuries, a bike that is best described as poor and being in lower pecking order machines. Face it, he does not bring dollars to the table so his opportunity will be limited until he is able to use his talent on machinery that is at or close to the top guys so that he can harass them until his heart is content, then, and only then may a door open.

Yes he is signed by HRC but then so are a lot of riders and based on his opportunity (bike/equipment) that signing means squat in the real world.

Miller has talent but he is on lesser equipment, new team, serious injuries to start last year and as they say, you can teach a fast crasher not to crash, but you cannot teach a slow rider to be fast. He is fast (bike comparitive) and of late, has crashed a lot less so maybe he is maturing into the rider that HRC wanted to skip Moto2 and that many talent spotters rate exceedingly highly on ability.

Its good news Jack feels he has made some inroads with the front end of his Honda which is good and hopefully this helps bring him some good results and improve his consistency. This is the final year of his HRC contract, but even if he has a fantastic year I don't really know where he can expect to go in 2018 thats an an actual improvement over where he currently is.

The only seats potentially available for 2018 that are a step up from MarcVDS will be Cal's seat with LCR, or Zarco and Folger's seats with Tech3 and thats only if they are not renewed which is is extremely unlikely to happen. The only other seats available for 2018 are some of the private Ducati teams, which I don't think are step up from VDS but maybe a step sideways at best.

Unless I'm missing something I think the best he can hope for in 2018 will be to keep his MarcVDS ride.

Gaz · Mar 7, 2017

He now has the motor that is one generation older than the current motor of the HRC and LCR teams and has made no secret that he is enjoying the motor and upgraded equipment.

That said, he (and he has said this himself) is the odd man out with contracts as when his is up, there will be few rides available so his options will be limited (short of retirements) but that is not to say that HRC may not offer MarcVDS upgrades etc, but I don't see much there for him either.

Like he says though, get a 1 year contract and see what happens from there but this will depend on results this season as I suspect of the results are there he may get an attractive multi year offer somewhere, but have an average to poor seasons whilst others around him shine may well see him put to pasture or at least downgraded somewhat

michaelm · Mar 7, 2017

AJV80 said:
Its good news Jack feels he has made some inroads with the front end of his Honda which is good and hopefully this helps bring him some good results and improve his consistency. This is the final year of his HRC contract, but even if he has a fantastic year I don't really know where he can expect to go in 2018 thats an an actual improvement over where he currently is.

The only seats potentially available for 2018 that are a step up from MarcVDS will be Cal's seat with LCR, or Zarco and Folger's seats with Tech3 and thats only if they are not renewed which is is extremely unlikely to happen. The only other seats available for 2018 are some of the private Ducati teams, which I don't think are step up from VDS but maybe a step sideways at best.

Unless I'm missing something I think the best he can hope for in 2018 will be to keep his MarcVDS ride.

Sure, nowhere to go in 2018, unless he wins 6 races or something in which case something might be found.

AJV80 · Mar 7, 2017

michaelm said:
Sure, nowhere to go in 2018, unless he wins 6 races or something in which case something might be found.

Only 6?

p4p1 · Mar 7, 2017

Gaz said:
He now has the motor that is one generation older than the current motor of the HRC and LCR teams and has made no secret that he is enjoying the motor and upgraded equipment.

That said, he (and he has said this himself) is the odd man out with contracts as when his is up, there will be few rides available so his options will be limited (short of retirements) but that is not to say that HRC may not offer MarcVDS upgrades etc, but I don't see much there for him either.

Like he says though, get a 1 year contract and see what happens from there but this will depend on results this season as I suspect of the results are there he may get an attractive multi year offer somewhere, but have an average to poor seasons whilst others around him shine may well see him put to pasture or at least downgraded somewhat

I thought he was using this years engine on last years bike? Sucks if he still has last years screamer engine.

aaronl · Mar 7, 2017

Looks like he stayed off the MX bike a bit more and did a lot more road cycling this off season.

All the best.

Gaz · Mar 7, 2017

p4p1 said:
I thought he was using this years engine on last years bike? Sucks if he still has last years screamer engine.

Last I saw his motor was not the equivalent of that in HRC or Cal's machines (Jack had said this himself - that is my source lol)

As for chassis, yes I do think that is also the case that his chassis is 2016 but not sure if there are any updates

p4p1 · Mar 7, 2017

Gaz said:
Last I saw his motor was not the equivalent of that in HRC or Cal's machines (Jack had said this himself - that is my source lol)

As for chassis, yes I do think that is also the case that his chassis is 2016 but not sure if there are any updates

I'm pretty sure that he is on 2016 chassis which is if we are being honest pretty damn good given its great on the brakes and holds excellent corner speed. I'm sure I read that he was testing and really happy with the Big Bang engine. I'm hoping that's the engine he gets this year and it wasn't just a case of Honda trying to get as much testing data as possible on their new engine before Qatar. Though I'm sure there was something about it not being full power. If he does well this year hopefully he gets on a similar deal to Cal for 2018.

Gaz · Mar 7, 2017

Another article - MotoGP: Jack Miller?The key is which engine we get from HRC | Sport Rider

p4p1 · Mar 7, 2017

Going from that article then he really has no excuses this year. Hopefully the engine Marquez chooses is good for him as well. I thought it was interesting how he spoke about Tito doing worse than others who have/are transitioning to the GP on easier bikes. Hopefully being a former diet tracker he puts in a solid performance at Qatar.

michaelm · Mar 9, 2017

Miller will get the same "big bang" engine as the factory Honda riders for the first time at the Qatar test, according to a report on crashnet.

p4p1 · Mar 9, 2017

This makes me very excited for Qatar to be honest. It should be a good track for him and now with a good chassis and engine combo he should put in some good performances this year. With 8 competitive factory machines plus top 10 finishes are now great results.

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Interesting Article on Miller - curious for opinions

shaunna

Deefer Dogg

Theo

michaelm

p4p1

shaunna

Gaz

AJV80

Gaz

michaelm

AJV80

p4p1

aaronl

Gaz

p4p1

Gaz

p4p1

michaelm

p4p1

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