Skip to main content

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Recommended for you

WRC Finland: Ogier in command after torrential rain shakes up order

WRC
Rally Finland
WRC Finland: Ogier in command after torrential rain shakes up order

New commercial rights holder announced for the WRC and ERC in landmark deal

WRC
Rally Finland
New commercial rights holder announced for the WRC and ERC in landmark deal

The principles Stella holds dear at McLaren to make the F1 team tick

Feature
Formula 1
The principles Stella holds dear at McLaren to make the F1 team tick

The challenge Haas faces in trying to meet F1 budget cap: "Fighting with both hands tied"

Formula 1
Hungarian GP
The challenge Haas faces in trying to meet F1 budget cap: "Fighting with both hands tied"

Top 10 McLaren F1 cars ranked: MCL39, M23, MP4/4 and more

Feature
Formula 1
Top 10 McLaren F1 cars ranked: MCL39, M23, MP4/4 and more

WRC Rally Finland: Ogier claims lead after incident-packed morning

WRC
Rally Finland
WRC Rally Finland: Ogier claims lead after incident-packed morning

How Pirelli will deal with F1’s unexpected return to Sepang

Formula 1
Bahrain GP in Malaysia
How Pirelli will deal with F1’s unexpected return to Sepang

Thailand to host MotoGP 2027 season opener

MotoGP
Thailand to host MotoGP 2027 season opener

Jack Miller stunned by performance of 2019 Ducati MotoGP bike

Pramac Ducati rider Jack Miller says he "can't believe" his new 2019 Desmosedici is just two years removed from the bike he used in MotoGP this season

Miller rode a 2017-spec Ducati for his new team Pramac this past campaign, finishing 13th in the riders' standings.

For next year the Aussie has been bumped up to a current-spec machine, and he got his first taste of the 2019 bike in the two days of post-season testing at Valencia.

Miller described the new bike as "amazing", and when asked what the difference was to the older spec, he said: "There's no real similarities.

"I cannot believe the bike is from the same family. Everything's new, the gearbox, down to the handlebars, how the handlebars feel."

Placing 14th on the first day of testing after his programme was curtailed by an unspecified technical issue, Miller ended the test fourth-fastest, just two tenths off pacesetter Maverick Vinales, on the second day last week.

He said he was still trying to get the bike "personalised", having admitted that it was more different to his previous Ducati than he'd expected.

"It's hard to almost believe it's only two years more advanced than my bike, but the amount of changes are crazy," he said.

"[It's better at] everything. Turn, brake, stop, accelerate, be smooth."

Ducati's MotoGP bikes used to have reputation for being unwieldy and difficult to ride, but the Desmosedici has become more user-friendly with its latest iterations.

According to Miller, the trend has continued with the GP19.

"It feels easier. Definitely," he said. "That was the biggest thing, I came in [first time] and I said it feels very light, very easy, especially through the first change of directions here, from [Turns] 8, 9, 10, 11.

"Even though there were still wet patches [Tuesday morning] and I was trying to stay well away from the white lines, I found myself almost turning onto the white lines on the inside because of how well it was turning."

Previous article How Petronas plans to emulate its Mercedes F1 success in MotoGP
Next article Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro skips 2018 MotoGP Jerez test with illness

Top Comments

Latest news