Jack Miller was left encouraged by his performance on his return to competitive action in today’s disrupted MotoGP test at Phillip Island.
The rising Australian motorcycle star jumped aboard his Marc VDS Honda for the first time since he broke his right leg in a training accident last month.
After being forced to miss the previous pre-season test at Sepang through injury, Miller was pleased by how his leg held up despite being limited to just six laps due to the inclement weather.
The Townsville rider posted a best time of 1:33.992s effort which was good enough for ninth overall.
Miller did however admit that he has had to change his riding style due to his recent leg injury.
“I’m pretty happy with today, even if the weather meant my time on the bike was limited,” said Miller.
“We had a heap of new parts to run in on the bike and we managed to get that done during the brief time the track was dry, so it looks good for tomorrow, when I hope the weather will be better.
“The leg was fine today; once I’m on the bike it’s really good. I can’t use the rear brake as much as I’d like to, but I can work on my riding style to compensate for that.
“Now we just need some better weather and a lot more laps.”
Rain showers played havoc with the MotoGP paddock, ruining plans to log valuable track time prior to the new season.
Factory Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso was restricted to a couple of out laps having elected not to go out in the wet conditions.
“Honestly speaking for me today was a wasted day,” said Dovizioso.
“This morning maybe we could have gone out on track when it was raining heavily, to do a few laps in wet weather set-up, but we preferred to wait a bit.
“However the situation didn’t improve and the track always remained damp. In the afternoon I did a couple of out-in exits with my Desmosedici GP, to allow the engineers to check a few things.
“I’m really hoping the weather is good tomorrow and Friday to give me the chance to put in some track time with the new bike.”
Testing continues on Thursday before the pre-season test wraps up on Friday.