All in all, it’s a decent time to be Jack Miller. The Australian is nearing the end of his first year as a factory KTM rider, a project that has undoubtedly moved forward since his arrival. Having married partner Ruby Mau last October, the pair welcomed their first child – Pip Florence – into the world on 14 September. And he returns to race on home soil with something of a point to prove after last year’s cruel ending.
“We left some unfinished business there last year,” he says.
The 28-year old hasn’t been on the easiest run of late. In some ways, Miller has been the victim of his own early success after a truly impressive start to life as a KTM factory rider. Just a fortnight on from ending the final preseason test 17th, Miller flew out of the blocks, breaking the lap record on just the the second practice session of the year, before finishing the first ever Sprint race fourth, just off the podium.
All in all, the season’s first half was decorated with nuggets of promise: three front-row starts at Jerez, the Sachsenring and Silverstone, and the two Sprint podiums in Jerez and the Sachsenring again as well as running in the podium battle before a crash out of the main race in Austin, and backing up teammate Brad Binder on the podium at Jerez. Despite jumping off Ducati’s peerless Desmosedici last November, there were even indications KTM’s RC16 was better suited to his riding style.
