The resumption of the 2017 MotoGP World Championship in Brno proved to be a more difficult affair than anticipated for Aussie MotoGP rider Jack Miller.
Competitive lap times were hard to come by for the hard charging young Aussie on an opening day of practice at the famous Czech Republic venue dominated by contrasting conditions.
A wet track for this morning's FP1 greeted Miller on his return from the summer break, which was the worst possible scenario for the Australian, who was hoping for a full dry 45-minute session after he missed the 2016 Brno encounter through injury.
A dry track for FP2 did at least give Miller the opportunity to adapt himself back to the demands of mastering Honda's RC213V 1000cc prototype MotoGP machine, after he spent the summer break competing on a factory-backed CBR1000RR SP2 superbike in the prestigious Suzuka Eight-Hour endurance race.
Miller's main goal in the afternoon was to gain more turning performance through some of Brno's demanding and sweeping changes of direction, and he was satisfied to circulate close to the top 15 with a best time of 1'58.179.
“After spending a lot of time in Japan riding a superbike for Honda in the Suzuka Eight-Hour, it has taken me a bit of time to get back into the groove on a MotoGP bike today. I felt we made good progress this afternoon, even though the final position clearly isn't where we want to be,” Jack said.
“It was tricky conditions and we know a couple of the other Honda boys came here to test in the summer break and they didn't finish too far ahead. My biggest problem today was struggling with front-end confidence in the stadium section (T2). I need to be able to turn the bike a little better and if we can improve in that area I know I can be closer to the front.”
