Newly-signed factory MotoGP Ducati pilot Jack Miller says he is thankful to current team Pramac for giving him “the responsibility” to learn how to operate as a factory rider.
Miller was announced as Ducati’s first confirmed factory racer for 2021 on Wednesday, becoming the first Australian to compete for the official team since Casey Stoner in ’10.
Writing in a blog post for his website, Miller was full of praise for the satellite Ducati squad for which he has competed since ’18, believing that it has allowed him to become the rider that Ducati had faith could lead its charge in future campaigns.
“The last two years with Pramac, I’ve learned a lot about myself as a person, as a rider, about everything to do with the sport really,” said Miller.
“They’ve helped me to become a more complete rider and person and I’ve loved the time they’ve spent investing in me, it’s made me hungrier than ever to keep getting better and making the most of that.
“The Pramac guys have been so close to the factory team that I’ve learned how factory riders are supposed to be, supposed to work.
“It’s had a big effect on the way I approach my racing, and there’s a methodical way of working that I had to learn, but it’s one where you can have a lot more impact on the way the team and bike works.
“More responsibility, basically. I’ve really enjoyed that.”
Miller added that he was “stoked” to be trusted as Ducati’s main challenger to the “benchmark” Marc Marquez, as well as the similarly-aged Maverick Vinales and Fabio Quartararo at Yamaha, and Suzuki’s Alex Rins and Joan Mir.
“Yamaha have Maverick (Vinales) who is my age, Suzuki have Alex (Rins) and Joan (Mir), and I was hoping Ducati would see me as their young guy who has been around for a while but is still pretty young to get into that conversation.
“Marc is the benchmark, so the main goal for all of the other factories is to get somewhere close to him. For me the big switch-up was Yamaha bringing in Fabio (Quartararo) for next year to replace Rossi – it was an inevitable decision but one that had to be done.
“But for them to actually do it was a different thing because, I mean, it’s Rossi … I’m stoked that Ducati see me as their guy in that age range to try to fight amongst ourselves and hopefully with Marc in years to come.”
