In Assen Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) took his first trip to the podium in the MotoGP™ World Championship and went straight to the top step. After a tough start to the year it is more than the doctor ordered and Miller has renewed confidence for Sachsenring, a track he and the Honda both like. In 2011 the Australian, who spent his early years racing in the German Championship, made his 125cc class debut at the track. Three years later he’d win the Moto3™ World Championship race from pole position. Honda riders have always gone exceedingly well at the track, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) having won the MotoGP™ race there on seven occasions.
He may have been overjoyed with victory, but Miller was out training almost straight away between the two races. The Australian was back out on a motocross bike for the firs time since breaking his leg before the 2016 season began. It not only allowed Miller to have a little more fun while training, but also let him assess how his leg is healing.
Jack Miller: “Assen was like a dream come true for me but we now we have to focus on being as competitive as possible this weekend in Germany. It is not going to be an easy weekend but it is a track I like and I’ve had some success on in the past. The encouraging thing for us as well is the Honda seems to work well at this track, so we have good reason to be optimistic. I’ve definitely got a little bit of extra confidence after the win in Assen and I’m sure we can be strong again. We’ve made a lot of progress over the last four races, and with my leg getting better day-by-day, it has made a difficult job a little bit easier for me. Since Assen I’ve been able to get back on a motocross bike for the first time since I injured my leg in January and it felt good. The strength is not an issue but I still need to get a bit more motion back. That lack of movement is because I’ve still got a fair amount of metalwork in my leg but I was happy with how it went. Now I’ll continue working hard with my crew like always so hopefully we can experience a feeling like Assen again soon”