VOL. 55 ISSUE 7 FEBRUARY 21, 2018 P29
After three patchy years on a
Honda, Miller has been a revela-
tion after switching to Ducati,
telling the press he felt comfort-
able on the GP17, and able to
improve consistently.
"This is the best I've felt since
I left Moto3," he said. Miller
skipped the interim Moto2 stage
after narrowly missing the Moto3
title in 2014.
Andrea Dovizioso was less
than a tenth slower on the fac-
tory bike than Miller, placed
seventh, calmly explaining that
he had been working on rhythm
and race pace more than on
single lap times.
But factory teammate Jorge
Lorenzo, fastest at the Sepang
tests, was left lagging and
puzzled, even hijacking Petruc-
ci's spare bike (a 2017 model)
for comparison tests. He was
left lagging in 22nd position on
the final day, and 16th overall,
the last rider within a second of
Pedrosa's best time.
Another fancied rider scratch-
ing his head was Maverick Vina-
les, who said that his problems
with getting comfortable enough
to push his factory Yamaha to
his limits were now six months
old, but with no clear view of a
solution.
He did manage to move up to
12th on day three and to place
eighth overall, but single laps
apart, his pace was clearly a
worry.
Puzzlingly, while Vinales (who
dominated last year's tests) is
having corner-entry problems,
teammate Valentino Rossi (12th
overall) is complaining of exit
difficulties, with electronic power
control a target.
"We don't improve from last
year, especially the electronic,
and have a lot, a lot of work,"
Rossi said, adding, "Anyway, we
are all very, very close."
On the plus side, Alex Rins
was consistently and surprisingly
fast on the Ecstar Suzuki, a fully
revised bike for this year, and
able to sidestep engine freeze
difficulties and continue devel-
oping through the year after a
difficult 2017.
Rins was fifth today and
overall, outclassing his more
experienced teammate Andrea
Iannone, in 15th.
Other highlights included the
performance of class rookie
Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda),
consistently best of the new
guys and an impressive 10th
overall at the end, plus the
adaptation of former Moto2
Champion Tito Rabat, 11th after
switching to Ducati after two dire
satellite Honda seasons.
Aleix Espargaro was 14th on
the Aprilia, with new teammate
Scott Redding 20th; Bradley
Smith was 18th on the KTM,
one place ahead of factory
tester Mika Kallio; Pol Espargaro
missed the test, after a heavy
crash at Sepang had aggravated
an old spinal hernia injury.
Michael Scott
Jorge Lorenzo was at a loss to explain
his lack of speed on the final day.
(Right) Jack
Miller has been a
revelation since
moving to Ducati
and has been
consistently faster
than factory duo
Dovizioso and
Lorenzo.
