After winning there in stunning style last year, Jack Miller (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) is now about to return to the TT Circuit Assen to see his name on the wall of legends for the first time. Ahead of the event, the Australian talked to motogp.com about the win, and his progress in the premier class.
Jack Miller: “Assen was just completely out of the blue. Even to this day now I can’t believe it. To go back there this year and see my name on the tunnel along with many other legends it’s something I dreamed about when I was a little boy, that’s for sure, and I look forward trying to put my name on there a few more times. Who knows in the future…”
The future is something that’s looking good for the Queenslander after some solid results this season, with the win in 2016 otherwise bookended by a difficult season characterised by injury and 2017 a top ten turnaround:
JM43: “It’s been a reasonably good season for me, getting back a lot of confidence which I lost in the past two seasons. I’m becoming more mature, gaining more and more of an understanding of the MotoGP bike and what it takes to ride this bike, as well as how to prepare myself throughout the weekend. It was going really, really, well right up until Le Mans with the big crash there, and it slowed things down a little bit.”
That big crash is something Miller says characterises the difference between a professional rider and someone who rides as a hobby – the ability to get back on after scaring yourself. And getting back on the bike, says the EG 0,0 Marc VDS rider, is something he always wants to do – because it’s his happy place:
JM43: “I think I have this desire and this dream inside of me that I want to ride my bike. It’s what I feel put on this earth to do, it’s my happy place. There is nothing worse than missing out and no matter how sore you are or whatever, you still want to get back on the bike. I don’t know what it is, maybe we have some wires touching in the wrong spots in our heads or something like that!”