I’m sitting on the first floor of Red Bull’s over the top MotoGP energy station – a vast, alpine-style pinewood palace that’s bigger than most people’s houses – Jack Miller and his wife Ruby, who’s pregnant, sit opposite me.
The hospitality staffer arrives. Mr and Mrs Miller order their sparkling waters, I order a beer. As I quaff the amber nectar, the 28-year-old Aussie smiles
“You’re only trying to make me jealous.”
Jack was once MotoGP’s wild man, charging around the paddock on Sunday nights, full of vodka and mischief. Then good mate Cal Crutchlow told him he had the talent to go all the way, but only if he dedicated himself to the cause and gave up booze.
“Last year I didn’t drink from the start of the season until the wedding in October,” says Jack. “And that was a big one,” interjects a smiling Ruby.
“Being sober helps me with the pressure, the stress and the anxiety,” Jack explains. “Plus, the hangovers get worse as I’m getting older. I was trying to go the full nine months with Ruby this year, but we had a KTM team dinner the other night and everyone was cheers with the beers, so I thought I’d have a couple. I only had three, but honestly that rolled me.
“When we go home and hang out with everyone and go fishing the problem with me is that I can’t drink heavy beers, because I can’t control my speed, so I drink light beers. That way I can write myself off, but it takes a long day to do that. I just pick me battles…”
Although Miller rarely drinks, he does have his moments, especially when he’s on the turps with Crutchlow, who is also mostly teetotal. Three years ago at Valencia
