Jack Miller details turnaround in form after strong Friday in Sepang

The KTM rider credited a return to the “normal” tire casing after having some difficulties on the stiffer heat-resistant construction, for immediately feeling comfortable in Sepang.

“From the start, I felt pretty good. It’s always nice to put the standard tire back on,” Miller told MotoGP.com.

“I struggled a lot last weekend [in Thailand] with the other carcass we have for these types of tracks – Thailand, India, [Indonesia] and Spielberg.

“So it was nice, let’s say, to get my normal bike back.

“The bike works really well here, it’s a very different bike to the one we rode here at the beginning of the year. [in testing]so we definitely moved in the right direction.

“My pace was good in FP2. I could do some consistent laps and keep it in the ’59s. I feel relatively comfortable, but everyone is going extremely fast.

“So we have to try and obviously find a little bit more during the night, but still quite happy to be back in the top three.”

Teammate Brad Binder was just a fraction slower than Miller in fourth, completing a strong turnaround after KTM’s struggles in February’s pre-season test.

“Really good. I’m happy,” Binder said. “I’m really surprised, the lap times came pretty well and it’s not always like that here. I was in a really fast lap when I lost the front, so I think I had a little bit more.

“It didn’t work at all [here] to the test! So clearly, we have done a good job since then and made positive steps. We have the bike working in a much better way, especially with new tires.”