Jack Miller was in fine fettle in free practice for the French Grand Prix, even before the chaos that marked Sunday’s race and with conditions that should rarely be considered “normal”.
The Australian Prima Pramac rider revealed that specific changes to his bike’s geometry were crucial to the excellent pace he showed on the Le Mans track, traditionally one of the most technical on the calendar.
Miller explained what modifications he implemented: ‘Just in terms of the front end, you know, we played a bit with where we are at the front of the bike in terms of fork height and angle, or let’s say inserts. We experimented a bit with that, and we made a step in that respect and I was happy to see that translate here’.
The choice of tires was another decisive aspect for Miller to work on: ‘I was a bit skeptical with the soft front tire just because of the way the front tire was working. I wasn’t getting the rear tire up at all under braking, and usually that means not having enough confidence in the front. But as soon as we put on the medium and, of course, the hard, it was like taking a step with each, in terms of being able to push that tire more’.
The #43 also explained how the changes allowed him to improve his driving technique, especially in critical areas of the circuit: ‘Being able to get the rear tire up in the air, and being able to play, let’s say, with the rear position going into corners, like eight, nine, last corner and so on. So, obviously, all that was positive, as well as, you know, we checked some things that we experienced, as I said, during the test in Thailand and so on’.