Jack Miller: It makes me anxious that rookies are growing faster and faster

Following the excellent rookie seasons of Ducati’s Jorge Martin and Enea Bastianini, Jack Miller admits that watching how quickly rookies adapt to MotoGP makes him “nervous.”

Following the excellent debuts of Jorge Martin and Enea Bastianini as rookies in 2021, Jack Miller, a fellow Ducati MotoGP rider, has expressed concern about how quickly younger riders are adjusting to the premier class.

Martin and Bastianini battled for the title of 2021 rookie of the year until the season’s final race in Valencia, where Martin won after finishing second to Francesco Bagnaia.

Bastianini, who started the race ahead of Martin in the standings, recovered from a poor start to finish eighth, separating the two former Moto2 riders by nine points.

While Martin had the best start of the three rookies (the other being Luca Marini), Bastianini was the top points earner of the three from Aragon onwards, finishing third in both Misano races.

Bastianini, on the other hand, struggled in qualifying compared to Martin, who scored four poles, as well as a first-ever premier class triumph in Austria and three more podium finishes.

Martin and Bastianini were the two best rookies we’ve seen since 2021 world champion Fabio Quartararo in 2019. Martin and Bastianini showed huge promise ahead of their second years in MotoGP and were the two best rookies we’ve seen since Fabio Quartararo in 2019.

As a result of all of this, factory Ducati rider Jack Miller has expressed his concern about how rapidly young riders adapt to MotoGP, stating that it “makes me nervous.”

“Today, he [Martin] was strong,” Miller commented on the final race day of the year. I had to keep up with him for a long time – 27 circuits to be exact – but this bike isn’t easy.

“It’s got its character and everything like that. All the rookies have been strong, it makes me nervous really, because they keep getting faster and faster. 

“I mean look at him (Francesco Bagnaia), he came in and topped the test in Malaysia; so he’s saying ‘ah I took time and this, that and the other’, it’s bullshit because he didn’t [laughs Miller]. 

“But they just keep getting faster and faster. Jorge has done a fantastic job and missed a few races this year. But he’s come in with the professionalism that maybe I was missing when I came in for sure. 

“He’s really stepped up to the plate and he’s done a fantastic job with his race craft, let’s say.”

Miller says it took him a long time to figure out what Martin’s strong points are, but he now understands what it was like to beat former factory riders Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci on a year-old machine.

“It’s a lot of things that took me a long time to learn, but I think he’s a very complete rider. Him and Bastianini; getting passed by a year old bike is not fun,” continued Miller. 

“I know how Dovi and Petrucci must’ve felt when I did it to them and it ain’t a good feeling that’s for certain. 

“I wish these rookies would slow down a little bit. But it also makes me more and more keen to try and improve myself and become a better rider.”

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