An improvement in the weather at Phillip Island for the second day of testing meant a far more productive day for the two Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS riders, Jack Miller and Tito Rabat.

The day started similar to yesterday, with intermittent showers disrupting proceedings, but the sun eventually made an appearance and the MotoGP teams enjoyed near perfect testing conditions in the afternoon.

Miller may have undergone surgery on a fractured tibia and fibula just one month ago, but the injury hasn’t been an issue for the 21-year-old Australian, who ended today 17th with a time of 1’30.514.

Rabat ended the second day of testing two places further back in 19th, but managed to close to within a tenth of his more experienced Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS teammate. The former Moto2 World Champion is still getting to grips with the Honda RC213V, but was happy to see a significant improvement in his lap time today.




Jack Miller: 17th – 48 Laps – 1’30.514

“I can be happy today. The weather improved and we got a lot of laps in on the bike, which is good, and the leg was no problem. The bike is working well, we’re missing a little bit in turn 10, which we need to work on, but we have some ideas as to how we can improve tomorrow. I’m really happy with the direction that Michelin have taken with the tyres as they’re working really well here at Phillip Island. I’m looking forward to riding the bike again tomorrow and, hopefully, the weather will stay good for us.”

Tito Rabat: 19th – 66 Laps – 1’30.650

“Today we’re closer to the front guys. This morning the gap was too big but we’ve managed to close it a little and we will look to close it some more tomorrow. Today has been another day of learning; learning the bike, learning the tyres and learning the track on a bike that has far more power than I’m used to. Tomorrow I want to continue to work on my riding style as I adapt to the Honda RC213V, so hopefully we’ll have similar weather to today.”

Chris Pike: Chief Engineer – Tito Rabat

“The day ended well, but this morning was tough, with Tito trying really hard to improve his lap time. I think he was maybe trying too hard and needed to relax a bit and let it come to him. He figured this out on the last run and we saw an improvement, which is good for his confidence and means we start tomorrow on a positive note.  We still need to go faster, but his fastest lap came on  a tyre with 15 laps on it – the maximum number of timed laps we’re allowed to do on the rear tyre here – so it was a positive day.”