Miller completes dream pre-season

Townsville’s Jack Miller (KTM) again set the pace as the curtain came down on Moto3 pre-season testing at Jerez in Spain on Thursday, March 13.

Although his lap time may not have been as quick as the one he posted the day before, he topped the timesheets once again to end the pre-season in confident mood. The times were tight, however, with the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider only just quicker than the new Honda of Alex Marquez. The Ajo form was confirmed by Miller’s rookie team-mate Karel Hanika, who rounded out the top three.

JEREZ MOTO3 TIMES

Jakub Kornfeil (KTM) concluded a strong week in fourth, while Honda pair Efren Vazquez and John McPhee both rose up into the top six. However, of those in the top 10 – which was finalised by Danny Kent (Husqvarna), Romano Fenati (KTM), Miguel Oliveira (Mahindra) and

Alex Rins (Honda) – all posted their quickest times of the day in either the first or second segments. In the afternoon, the majority decided to concentrate on race simulations and for that reason there were fewer fast laps.

Further down the timesheet, Adelaide’s Arthur Sissis (Mahindra) was 20th fastest out of 33 riders.

In Moto2 testing, also at Jerez, Takaaki Nakagami (Kalex) was the pacesetter, from Sandro Cortese (Kalex), Thomas Luthi (Suter), Xavier Simeon (Suter) and Johann Zarco (Caterham Suter). Last year’s Moto3 world champion Maverick Vinales (Kalex) was 11th, reigning world supersport champion Alex Lowes (Speed Up) was14th, and Australia’s Anthony West (Speed Up) was 19th.

JEREZ MOTO2 TIMES

The opening round of the 2014 Road Racing World Championship – MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 – will be held at Losail, Qatar from March 20-23.