North Queensland’s Jack Miller will go into the Moto3 World Championship full of confidence after topping the time sheets in final pre-season testing at Jerez in Spain.
Over the three days of testing the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider set the benchmark time of a 1:46.326 on the second day. Although feeling good about his performance, the field in Moto3 is incredible close with only 33 thousandths of a second separating him from the Honda of Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alex Marquez, the brother of MotoGP World Champion Marc.
The Ajo form was confirmed by Miller’s team-mate Karel Hanika, who rounded out the top three.
“We are confident that we are working in the right way to develop the bike throughout the year,” said Miller.
“I’m very eager to see how it evolves. We were fortunate enough to get some fairly decent times: One early in the morning and one in the afternoon. I made a small mistake when I was trying to lower my times, but I think this is also OK.
“We were consistent with our race simulation times, so I feel strong for Qatar.”
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Last year’s Moto3 title went down to the final corner of the final race in Valencia.
Moto2 was also testing at the southern Spanish circuit with Japan’s Takaaki Nakagami completing a clean sweep of the three days.
Nakagami topped his previous best lap time by three tenths of a second to 1:42.206 on the final day. The Idemitsu Honda Team Asia rider was just under two tenths quicker than the second Kalex of Dynavolt Intact GP’s Sandro Cortese, followed by Tom Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2).
With reigning champion Pol Espargaro having stepped up to MotoGP, the battle for the vacant Moto2 crown is sure to still be intense.
Contenders in all three classes are now looking to the opening round in Qatar next weekend.
