MotoGP: Australian rider Jack Miller on verge of signing new deal with Belgian team

AUSSIE Jack Miller is on the verge of a signing a new contract for the 2016 MotoGP season with Belgium-based team Marc VDS.

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - FEBRUARY 23: Jack Miller of Australia and CWM LCR Honda rounds the bend during the MotoGP Tests in Sepang - Day One at Sepang Circuit on February 23, 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Photo by Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images)

AUSSIE Jack Miller is on the verge of a signing a new contract for the 2016 MotoGP season with Belgium-based team Marc VDS.

Miller, 20, is expected to partner Spanish Moto2 rider Tito Rabat with the stronger Honda team, leaving the LCR Honda outfit after one year.

Marc VDS’s current entrant Englishman Scott Redding is moving to Pramac Racing for 2016.

Speculation about the change has been circulating through MotoGP circles for days but an announcement by Honda is expected soon.

Miller wasn’t making any comment on Wednesday, saying an announcement was due this weekend.

The rookie was also frank about fans’ expectations for Sunday’s race, saying that a strong performance was the aim and that a podium finish was unrealistic.

Australian rider MotoGP rider Jack Miller has a rowing lesson with the Richmond Rowing Club on the Yarra River in Melbourne on Wednesday.

Miller said evergreen Italian Yahama rider Valentino Rossi as the man to beat on Sunday.

“He’s like a fine wine – he just gets better and better,’’ Miller said.

Rossi, 36, is seeking his eighth world title and leads the championship by 16 points, ahead of Movistar Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo.

Third-placed Marc Marquez, who claimed the world crown in 2013 and 2014, is now out of the title battle.

Marquez’s fractured finger was still heavily strapped yesterday after incurring the injury in a mountain-bike accident last week. The Spaniard finished fourth in last Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix which was won by Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa.

Practice starts tomorrow (FRI) morning, with qualifying on Saturday. The weather forecast for race day is partly cloudy with a top of 17C.

Originally published as MotoGP: Australian rider Jack Miller on verge of signing new deal with Belgian team