As the weather on Friday and Saturday at the Australian Grand Prix is forecasted to be iffy, Jack Miller expects KTM to be competitive from the get-go at Phillip Island. The Aussie is banking on the unsettled forecast to level the playing field.
“As we’ve seen many years here at the island, it’s one of those tracks where even if you are having some slight issues, you can mask it a little bit around here, especially when the weather is doing you a favor.”
It’s been a tough season for Miller so far, struggling to extract the RC16’s full potential after initially finding strong pace in free practices.
With difficult conditions expected for Friday and Saturday, the Aussie believes that less dry track time could work in his favor this weekend, given how the KTM package has been performing this season.
“So, fingers crossed we can get away to a solid weekend. Looks like the weather conditions are going to be iffy throughout at least Friday and Saturday. So, the least amount of dry track time, the better for me.”
While many teams use full dry sessions to fine-tune their bikes, Miller feels that more variable conditions will allow KTM to capitalize on their initial pace and avoid the frustration of chasing “micro improvements”, that other teams have found more easily over past weekends.
“I feel like we sort of hit the ground running and then we’ve been struggling throughout the season to make progress from basically FP1.”
“The least amount of dry track time will help us because our speed is generally there from the get-go. It’s just how to make those micro improvements over the weekend.”
