It seems everyone except the youngster himself sees teenager Jack Miller as Australia’s next MotoGP world champion.
The 19-year-old Queenslander burst into the Moto3 championship lead this season with four race victories, sitting just ahead of Spaniard Alex Marquez on the standings.
With the series’ Australian round at Phillip Island in October looming, some pundits have suggested the Red Bull KTM rider could soon follow in the tracks of titleholders Casey Stoner, Mick Doohan and Wayne Gardner.
Miller, though, is keen to put the brakes on high expectations.
“Everyone’s looking at me as the next Australian hope, but for me I don’t see it like that – I’m just another guy trying to do his best, and I’m having a lot of fun doing it,” Miller said.
“Hopefully I can succeed, but it’s so hard to be on the same level as any of those guys.
“I don’t put myself in the same book, let alone on the same page as those guys.”
Despite speculation he could move immediately into the elite MotoGP series in 2015, Miller said he’s not concerned about such rapid progress and is under no strain to perform well enough to make a major leap.
“For me, I’m so fortunate to have a manager in there at the moment doing the job for me. I don’t have any stress,” he said.
“There’s no extra pressure, and I don’t really care – as long as I’m riding a bike next year and it’s in this championship, I’ll be happy.
“I don’t really know where I’ll be yet and I don’t really care as long as I’m on a motorcycle.”
But he does care deeply about the looming Phillip Island round, the third last race in the championship.
“Like any other race, the focus is to win the race – I’m here to win races, and a championship would be a bonus at the end.
“But I’d really like to win Phillip Island, for sure – you always want to win your home race.
“I really look forward to it and it’s one of the races I really like – it’s a track that calls for big old balls and you need a big heart there, because it’s such a long race.”
Miller’s next challenge comes at Indianapolis in the US on August 10 following the mid-season break.
