Jack Miller jumped straight from Moto3 to Honda’s MotoGP family back in 2015. It was a remarkable reward for finishing runner-up in the lightweight class.
While he lost out to Alex Marquez in an incredibly close title fight, he outperformed the likes of Alex Rins, Miguel Oliveira, Enea Bastianini and Francesco Bagnaia. Honda became the first team to pluck a rider straight out of the third tier.
Initially positioned at LCR, Miller moved to the now-defunct Marc VDS team for 2016. Like the rest of the Honda riders, he was in the shadow of Marc Marquez, but he became a regular points finisher in his sophomore year.
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Miller worked with Cristian Gabarrini, who already had experience with his fellow countryman Casey Stoner. Based on his comments on the Mig Babol podcast, Gabarrini remembers the partnership with great fondness.
Jack Miller’s crew chief knew he couldn’t afford to take out Marc Marquez at 2016 Dutch GP
Across three years on Honda machinery, Miller only once finished higher than sixth. The 2016 Dutch Grand Prix was a truly anomalous race, but it was also one of the finest moments of his career.
Miller defeated the mighty Marquez at a wet Assen to land a first premier-class victory and establish his enduring status as a wet-weather specialist. He’d started down in P19.
Watching Miller go wheel-to-wheel with Marquez from the Marc VDS garage, Gabarrini felt as if his job was on the line. Making contact with the franchise’s biggest superstar would have been disastrous.
But the then 21-year-old executed the move cleanly and assuredly saw out the remaining seven laps to take the chequered flag.
“During that year, Honda made the incredible decision to take a rider from Moto3 and bring him directly to MotoGP – Jack Miller,” Gabarrini recalled. “They came to me and asked me if I’d be interested in managing another Australian.
“I was in love with Jack Miller because I was a fan of his in Moto3, I liked him as a character. You couldn’t help but love seeing him like that.
“For the next two years, I was Jack Miller’s crew chief with the satellite Honda – two incredible years in which I really enjoyed myself.
“We even managed to win a race at Assen in the wet. It was fun, but at the same time it was stressful, because in the last laps Jack caught up with Marquez, a fully-fledged factory rider, and passed him.
“I thought to myself, if he knocks him down, we’ll be all fired, they’ll send us all home.
Why Cristian Gabarrini left Jack Miller to work with Jorge Lorenzo
Gabarrini and Miller parted ways at the end of 2016 when the former was approached by Ducati to work with Jorge Lorenzo. Despite his bond with Miller, he felt he couldn’t turn down the chance to link up with a three-time MotoGP champion.
“At the end of that year, Ducati reached out to me saying they’d signed Jorge Lorenzo and they’d like me to be his crew chief,” he said.
“I was really fond of Jack, and HRC was a wonderful experience, but inside, I thought, there are also trains that never pass in life. Having the chance to work with Jorge Lorenzo… it never happens.”
Miller himself would end up riding a Ducati bike at Pramac in 2018. He then graduated to the factory team two years later.
Gabarrini is now working with Francesco Bagnaia, who has won two world championships but has lost his way in 2025.