Ducati’s Jack Miller secured a front row start for Sunday’s Spanish GP after a last-minute promotion saw him directly through to this afternoon’s Q2 at Jerez.

After ending Saturday morning’s FP3 with the eleventh fastest time, the Australian was given a late life-line and promoted directly into Q2 after the opening practice concluded - thanks to a delayed cancellation of Franky Morbidelli's P7 lap time. 

Having suffered technical issues in the opening stages of the final free practice, Miller eventually utilised the concluding 15 minutes of FP4 to run race-spec analysis before the real business of the pole shootout got underway. The Lenovo rider emphatically stamped his authority on proceedings from the off with a time worthy of second-place, albeit half a second down on leader Fabio Quartararo, before returning to front row contention, with a little help from teammate Pecco Bagnaia, in the closing minutes. His 1’36.860 lap, taking the third spot on the grid for Sunday’s 25-lap race.

"Starting from the front row here will definitely be a big help” Miller explained from Parc Ferme. 

“Jerez is a very tight and technical track where it's quite difficult to overtake and if I can get a good start, I can try to manage the race in the best way possible, and stay calm especially in the first laps. 

“After a complicated start to the season, it is a relief to be back at the front for me. Obviously, this was only qualifying, and we still have the race tomorrow to look forward to, but for now, I'm happy to have been able to tick this first target off the list” he continued.

“We've been putting in a lot of work throughout this weekend. We really went back to the drawing board and just tried to plug away doing laps, focusing on our race pace and I think it's paid off. We are generally able to throw a lap time at it but to be super competitive we needed to up our pace in general and we've been able to just plug away at that throughout the weekend so far and I feel good. 

“The lap time came to me today, I was able to get it all together when it counted but it wasn't easy out there. The wind really picked up this afternoon, even more than yesterday and a couple of corners were quite tricky but I was having a lot of fun that's for certain!

“All the crashes, turn five, seven - when Marc went down - eight, nine, all of them were really bad with the crosswind coming into them. I had some small mechanical issues at the beginning of FP4, went out and had to come back in and spend a bit of time in the box just fixing it. Then I was able to get out and circulate for nine, ten laps, was able to get the bike to where I wanted, understand where I could push, where I needed to try and switch the line a little bit, but I did see many bikes on the ground. 

“I’m happy to put it all together and be back on the front row after what's been a very difficult start of the season for me. Not only with the results but also mentally, it's a nice little mental boost.

“It was a tough day so to speak, but we just tried to approach things differently this weekend. As you've seen, the last couple of weeks haven't been ideal for us so we just sort of changed the strategy - in FP1 just one stop and try and do as many consistent laps as possible, same in FP2 but with a little time attack at the end and then this morning the same again. FP4 was just a small issue with changing the engine over to a fresh one and we had a few little dramas but nothing major. It's great to be back here starting from the front row. It's been a testing time these last couple of weeks and it just feels nice to be back here, I know it's only qualifying but it's one step closer for tomorrow.”

Speaking of tomorrow, who does he see as his main rivals come race day? 

“Judging from the practice times, for sure Franky and Fabio, Maverick's pace is very strong, but I feel like I've been working really hard all weekend trying to get my pace to where it needs to be and I feel we're not too far off. Starting from the front row is a very, very nice thing. If you could pick a front row I think here is pretty nice because you can get away, out of trouble on the first lap, and it's quite difficult to pass here so hopefully we'll be able to get away and I have a semi carefree race. It can get pretty chaotic in the first couple of laps here so it'll be nice to have some pressure off the start.

Having finished 12th after Friday’s two practice sessions, the Australian was certainly looking more relaxed and comfortable at the close of Saturday, explaining “I was able to find a solution pretty simple this morning, after looking at the data last night, and then gradually throughout the day I was getting better. We were actually the fastest through sector four and I don't think I've ever been the fastest through sector four in Jerez! 

“I don't really know what I did too much but it felt good, even with the wind” the 26-year-old joked.

“The wind was really strong, it was blowing me out and the front was bouncing about a bit but I was able to have the confidence in my bike to carry the corner speed through there, but it definitely made things a little trickier. I'm definitely glad I was able to get out in FP4 and understand, with a decent run, how the wind was going because lap by lap it was kind of different.

“Qualifying has always been our strong point, I've been on the first two rows every race this year but tomorrow will be the real test. In Qatar we weren't far off, we were ninth in both races, and then in Portimao it was less than good, but we'll try and just build the foundation from here onwards, that's the main goal, it’s a perfect spot to try and start our championship campaign.”