Speaking to Jack Miller, you would never guess you were looking at a man who just two weeks ago admitted to being in a confidence crisis.
The Townsville native is in a buoyant mood ahead of this weekend’s Indian Grand Prix. Undoubtedly the arrival of his and wife Ruby’s first child, Pip, last week is playing the largest role, lighting up his eyes at their every mention.
“I can’t wait to get back home,” he tells Fox Sports. “And hopefully take some silverware home for them.”
The renewed hope for silverware is the other component in Jack’s good mood.
Miller’s fairytale start to his KTM switch, having scored the team’s first podium of the season on a bike that emerged as Ducati’s key challenger, has gradually unravelled.
His last five rounds have featured two retirements, three Q1 appearances, two bottom-10 qualifications and an average Sunday finish of 10th — hardly the stuff of dreams.
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Ironically it all started to go downhill at his 200th race at the Dutch TT, the scene of his first MotoGP triumph, and a set-up change he and the team thought would take them forward, one step closer to Ducati and his former teammate, reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia.
Instead it left him scrambling to recover his form.
“We just keep going around in circles where we weren’t getting the results that we wanted out of the set-up,” he says.
“Especially with the last couple of grands prix not going the way we wanted them to, now the frustration sets in.
“But it’s a different kind of frustration because you know where you’re capable of running on this thing and I haven’t been able to do it the last couple of weeks, and that eats at you more, I think.”
But then came Misano and the post-race test, the last in-season test of the year. While the Honda-Marc Márquez enraptured the paddock will-he-won’t-he soap opera, Miller was focused on getting as many laps under his belt as possible.
And now?
“Feeling good,” he says. “Bike aside, just having the day to sort some stuff out with my riding — with how I felt on the bike, with what I was doing on the bike without having the stress of the clock counting down during session and trying to find a set-up for a race and you chasing your arse a bit like that — was nice.
“It was nice to be able to just have the day to try few different things through different corners and understand what the impacts were from that.”
The conclusion is less about bike set-up and performance and more about how Miller is interacting with his machine.
“We’ve been obviously trying to go back through and understand what out issues were and where we were struggling,” he says. “We’ve got some parts coming in terms of ergonomics on the bike that I think can help me.
“I think it more comes down to where I’m sat and how I’m sat and where I’m touching the bike. We’re working hard on that end to try some different options and see where that leads us.
“That aside, we were doing some laps and trying some different approaches to corners in terms of where my body position was, where my shoulders were, why my arms were — stuff that you don’t necessarily try on a race weekend — just to try to gain that confidence back, and I think we did.
“It was a really, really positive day for us. A lot of laps logged. It was really, really important to get that one sorted, and I came out of there with a better feeling.”
Confidence is certainly what riders will need this weekend in India, a brand-new challenge for MotoGP.
The Buddh International Circuit, around 45 kilometres from New Delhi, is a decades-old circuit given a new lease on life by MotoGP’s decision late last year to race in the world’s largest motorcycle market for the first time.
It’s been a painful gestation. There were serious concerns about the track’s readiness to host a grand prix safely, and though those fears turned out to be unfounded, visa problems meant many teams and riders didn’t arrive in Noida’s smoking-hot and oppressively humid climes until late in the week. Marc Márquez landed less than 24 hours before the start of practice.
But the facility that greeted the sport was well up to scratch. Not only that, but pre-practice reviews of the circuit layout have been glowing.
Comprising a broad combination of different corners, a long straight and some big braking zones, there should be something for all bikes this weekend.
“It should all be pretty sweet,” Miller says. “The track looks good. I mean, the pit boxes and everything is great. The grandstand is huge. The front straight looks good.
“But you never really know anyway until you’re doing 350 kilometres an hour down the back straight and you know where you’re braking!
“It’s one of those ones, but I think it‘ll be a good weekend.”
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The biggest losers of the logistics problems have been the fans, who have reportedly missed out on several pre-weekend promotional activities with some of the sport’s biggest stars, but Miller says the atmosphere upon the sport’s arrival has still been impressive.
“The vibe of the whole weekend is pretty special,” he said. “Our Indian fans are extremely motivated and bike nuts, and you can see the motorcycle is a part of the culture over here, so it‘s definitely cool to bring what is the pinnacle of motorcycles to India to race in front of these guys.”
The last new circuit sampled by MotoGP was Mandalika last year for the first Indonesian Grand Prix hosted in Lombok, where the riders got a similarly raucous welcome.
Miller embraced the challenge and finished fourth in what was a strong start to last season.
This year he’s hoping the great unknown of India will deliver similarly lofty results.
“I think it’ll be good,” he said. This is the first one we’ve been to this year that’s new for everybody, so we’re all on the same boat in those terms, but I think our bike should work really well around here.
“There are a lot of good straights — Don’t get me wrong, as we all know, the normal guys will be there, but our bike’s pretty quick on the straights and there are couple of good hard braking points here too, so we should be right.”
HOW CAN I WATCH IT?
The 2023 Indian Grand Prix is live and ad-break free during racing on Kayo and Fox Sports.
Friday starts with an extended 70-minute first practice session at 3:45pm (AEST) followed by a 70-minute timed practice session at 8pm.
The 30-minute final free practice session is on Saturday at 3:10pm ahead of qualifying at 3:50pm before the sprint at 8pm.
Sunday starts with the 10-minute warm-up at 3:40pm, with lights out on the first-ever Indian Grand Prix at 8pm.
