Miller takes on Petrucci test duties with 2020 Ducati
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With Danilo Petrucci ending his post-Valencia Grand Prix test after just 10 laps on Tuesday, Jack Miller has been given the bulk of his testing programme for Ducati as he got to grips with the Italian manufacturer’s prototype GP20.As well working with Ducati’s new engine he also tried out a new specification frame and seat unit, with a bulkier rear ‘lunchbox’ component, as Miller ran continuous back-to-back tests with his GP19 fresh from taking third place in the Valencia GP at the weekend.After not targeting an outright fast lap time, Miller ended the second day of the Valencia test 10th fastest and 1.005s off pace-setter Maverick Vinales on the Monster Energy Yamaha.Miller accepts comparing his finely-tuned GP19 to the experimental 2020 bike, which won’t be completed until the Sepang tests next February, gave an unfair comparison but felt clear gains were present in Ducati’s current weaknesses in turning and mid-corner speeds.With an early positive impression, Miller is eager to trial the same prototype at next week’s Jerez test to understand how his feelings carry over between different circuits.“With Danilo having some pain in his shoulder I was able to get on the 2020 bike today, well the first version of it anyway, and I am pretty happy but it was a busy day,” Miller said. “Swapping between the two and going back-to-back, it has been a busy day after a pretty hectic so I am going to sleep well tonight that is for sure.“The 2020 frame is working well but it is still early days. It helped us here in terms of turning but it is hard after a race weekend and after you have been riding the bike you have been on all year and then you go and jump on a new bike. It is always going to feel a little bit foreign and a little bit different.“You are going to pick up all the negatives immediately so I would like to try it in Jerez, somewhere fresh, and then we will really understand what we need to do.“It is different so we need some different settings so throwing in our base settings that we were running here at the race on Sunday isn’t quite going to work. We adjusted a few things here and there but we have a little bit more work to do.”The final MotoGP test of the year takes place at Jerez next Monday and Tuesday (25-26 November).
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