Jack Miller’s home grand prix, Australian Grand Prix, Phillips Island, KTM, championship battle

Jack Miller will arrive in Australia confident a big result at his home Grand Prix is ​​on the table after ending his poor mid-year run of form.

Miller left the Ducati team at the end of last year to join the KTM factory team, which finished second in the 2022 teams’ championship but after just five podiums as the RC16 proved inconsistent.

The Townsville native took just four races to claim his first podium in an orange suit, finishing third in a statement race to prove his detractors wrong.

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But the podium has remained elusive ever since, and by the mid-season break Miller’s results had declined. His usual speed in qualifying had evaporated, leaving him stuck three times since the restart in the last 10 of the grid, from where the big points were inaccessible.

But a day of testing at the San Marino Grand Prix and a new carbon fiber chassis introduced at the Japanese Grand Prix appear to have solved the worst of its problems.

Sixth and seventh places in Japan and Indonesia – and fourth and ninth in their respective sprint races – gave Miller his best run of consecutive results since the Italian and German grand prix in June, a marked recovery after a long drought.

Miller is confident he can enjoy a good run until the end of the season.

“I’m quite happy with this and in general with our performance throughout the weekend here in Indonesia,” he wrote on his website after the weekend’s race in Mandalika. “All weekend we were able to show decent speed, we are very happy with the result.

“It’s nice to have two good weekends in a row, with Japan and [Indonesia]. I also had good pace at the end, which is always positive in these hot conditions.

“Not too far from the leaders, but we definitely have a bit of work to do.”

Perennial rider favorite Phillip Island is the perfect place to carry out this work on his KTM, which should be perfectly suited to the fast sweeps that define the famous Victorian circuit.

“I’m really looking forward to heading to Phillip Island on this bike,” Miller continued.

“We’ve made great progress with the new chassis etc., as well as the set-up in general and the way we approach the weekends, so I think the KTM can work really, really well on the island. .

“The bike feels nice and nimble at speed, which is what you need there, and there’s still good grip there too.

“Fingers crossed we can put on a good show for the home fans. I know I will feel this extra support.

A good result will go a long way to erasing the bitter taste of last year’s disappointing result.

Miller had arrived at Phillip Island in the best form of his career, having dominated the Japanese Grand Prix and finished second in Thailand.

But his battle for his first Australian podium since 2019 ended after just eight laps, with Alex Márquez propelling him out of the race – ironically at the new Miller Corner, Turn 4.

“It’s obviously not the end of the weekend that we wanted last year, cleaning up my own corner, but we’re going to try to put that behind us,” Miller tells Fox Sports.

“It felt like last year we were fighting for the win. It’s unfortunate what happened, but I think we’re definitely going to have another one this year.

“The last time I rode a KTM there it was a pretty good day, so fingers crossed we can do the same.”

His previous visit to Australia in KTM colors was during his final Moto3 season in 2014. Starting eighth on the grid, Miller engaged in the kind of chaotic multi-bike slipstream battle for honors typical of the lightweight class to hold off Alex Márquez and Álex Rins for the win.

This year the Miller family will return to their marquee corner, and Jack and his wife Ruby’s daughter Pip will join them for her formative Grand Prix experience.

Miller will then don the KTM suit on the island for the first time since his last home triumph nine years ago.

This looks like a story in the making.

“It’s going to be mega,” he said. “And the island always produces something pretty special.”

This could really be very special.