© Bruce Allen May 12, 2021
It says right here on the MotoGP.com landing page that Jack Miller’s recent win at Jerez is the kind of stuff that transforms a rider’s career. One can only imagine the breathless narrative accompanying the slo-mo video. But wait.
Jack Miller graduated directly from Moto3 to MotoGP in 2015. He won at Assen in the rain in 2016. He won again last time round. Where in this rather–sorry–ordinary story do we get to talk about “redemption”? As if Miller had recently put a serious beatdown on the MotoGP field, to revive a career many non-Australians considered disappointing.
Jack Miller is reportedly a helluva nice guy whose career has shown steady progress. In 2014 he was considered something of a phenom. I was at Sepang that year and he was always around yakking with the press, on his way to fame and glory in MotoGP at the tender age of 19, the next Great Australian Hope, a fitting follower in the mold of the legendary Casey Stoner.
No.
Miller has had a nice career, and now has two wins, joining what our crack research team guesses to be 100 other riders who have achieved similar “redemption.” It’s not like Jack has spent six years wallowing in the mud with the likes of Tito Rabat and then suddenly owns the joint. He has simply made himself relevant again, trailing series leader Pecco Bagnaia by 27 points, still in the lead group for the year.
A single career win on dry pavement does not a legend make. If it does, then make way for one of the other recent legends, Danilo Petrucci.
Enough with the hyperbole, MotoGP.
Tags: Ducati, Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Jack Miller, motogp
Late-Braking MotoGP 
May 12, 2021 at 7:52 am |
Hello Bruce,
The problem is that there is so much talent in the gene pool of MotoGP these days that we ‘can’t see the forest for the trees’. The end result is that there will be lots of good racing, and that is why we are here. I wish Jack well, as well as everybody else.
Mike from Ontario, Canada
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 12, 2021 at 8:12 am |
I agree. It’s a nice problem to have.
LikeLike
May 12, 2021 at 8:10 am |
I checked Wiki on world open class race wins and with one win “The Thriller” wasn’t even listed. lol. Wiki is the easiest but isn’t the most reliable source.
With 2 wins now he moves up the list past Karel Abraham, Alberto Puig, Simon Crafar, Wilco Zeelenberg, etc. into ranking #238.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Grand_Prix_motorcycle_racing_winners
Way higher than I’ll ever be, but amongst his peers he’s still got some work to do. We’ll see how that goes now that he’s on factory graphics and has no excuses.
I’ve never heard “pulling out of a nose dive” referred to as “redemption”.
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 12, 2021 at 8:19 am |
Oops, that’s all gp wins, not just open class. no wonder I didn’t see him. He’s at #100 with 8 total wins in all classes.
This is the type of crack research one can expect for free, although Bruce is doing a much finer job for the same.
LikeLike
May 12, 2021 at 10:52 am |
Redemption for him might be two wins in the premier class. It would be for me, though that standard is quite a bit lower. As Starmag pointed out, top 100 in GP wins isn’t nothing. Perhaps not what he and his fans hoped for, but it’s a competitive field.
LikeLike
May 14, 2021 at 1:01 pm |
I’ve always felt that he, (and crutchlow) were overrated and over-excused by the commentators. To me, he seems to have too many “bad luck” days in the eyes of the announcers for it to truly be “bad luck” and not just inconsistent talent.. I was genuinely surprised that he stayed in the lead and won. I was 95% sure he would drop back to ~4th+ by the end of the race.
LikeLike