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Pramac Ducati rider Jack Miller says he “can’t believe” his new 2019 Desmosedici is just two years removed from the bike he used in MotoGP this season.
Miller rode a 2017-spec Ducati for his new team Pramac this past campaign, finishing 13th in the riders’ standings.
For next year the Aussie has been bumped up to a current-spec machine, and he got his first taste of the 2019 bike in the two days of post-season testing at Valencia.
Miller described the new bike as “amazing”, and when asked what the difference was to the older spec, he said: “There’s no real similarities.
“I cannot believe the bike is from the same family. Everything’s new, the gearbox, down to the handlebars, how the handlebars feel.”
Placing 14th on the first day of testing after his programme was curtailed by an unspecified technical issue, Miller ended the test fourth-fastest, just two tenths off pacesetter Maverick Vinales, on the second day last week.
He said he was still trying to get the bike “personalised”, having admitted that it was more different to his previous Ducati than he’d expected.
“It’s hard to almost believe it’s only two years more advanced than my bike, but the amount of changes are crazy,” he said.
“[It’s better at] everything. Turn, brake, stop, accelerate, be smooth.”
Ducati’s MotoGP bikes used to have reputation for being unwieldy and difficult to ride, but the Desmosedici has become more user-friendly with its latest iterations.
According to Miller, the trend has continued with the GP19.
“It feels easier. Definitely,” he said. “That was the biggest thing, I came in [first time] and I said it feels very light, very easy, especially through the first change of directions here, from [Turns] 8, 9, 10, 11.
“Even though there were still wet patches [Tuesday morning] and I was trying to stay well away from the white lines, I found myself almost turning onto the white lines on the inside because of how well it was turning.”