Readers of my posts would know that I’m following my Aussie Boy, Jack Miller this season. A week or two in MotoGP seems to change things enormously.
Fortunes seem to change overnight for some riders. An unexpected surgery offers new hope for one, a new frame arrives and offers hope to others and some riders gain confidence after a better than expected result in Qatar.
It was encouraging to see ‘my guy’ Jack Miller put the CWM Honda into 13th place after free Practice 1 in Texas, although granted it was in the wet. Though I didn’t see much of Miller in FP1, the FP2 MotoGP coverage of Jack was awesome to see. Just like his days in Moto3, Jack was throwing the machine around in a manner that reminded me of a young Casey Stoner. None the less, Jack ended the session in 19th place just ahead of another MotoGP rookie…Eugene Laverty.
Laverty is also onboard the Open Class RC213V-RS Honda, riding for the Aspar MotoGP Team so it will be interesting to see how both of these rookies perform during the season. The younger Laverty saw his brother, Michael depart MotoGP this year after PBM ended their association with the Premier Class. History will tell who was more successful in the division.
Whilst Miller managed to elevate himself directly from Moto3, Laverty has followed in the footsteps of such riders as Ben Spies and Cal Crutchlow, who came through the route Laverty travelled via World Supersport and World Superbikes.
Eugene finished 18th in Qatar whilst Jack failed to finish…I guess that means Laverty 1 vs Miller 0. It will be interesting to see how the season unfolds for both of these MotoGP debutants.
Photograph: ©2015 by Darren Marlowe | Octane Photography – All Rights Reserved