Gabarrini’s counsel comes from working with both Stoner and Miller, so he knows their strengths and vulnerabilities.
Gabarrini was crew chief for Stoner’s famous 2007 world title – still Ducati’s only MotoGP crown – and 23 GP wins over four years on the red bikes.
Stoner’s second world title on a Honda in 2011 also came with Gabarrini as his race engineer, a two-year stint which saw Stoner’s career MotoGP win tally rise to 38.
Now race engineer for Jorge Lorenzo at Ducati, Gabarrini has also been eyewitness to Miller’s talent as crew chief to Australia’s only current MotoGP racer at Marc VDS Honda in 2015 and ’16.
“I have said many times it is not really fair to make a comparison between Casey and any other rider because he had such a high capability to adapt himself to every kind of motorcycle,” Gabarrini said.
“But I see the potential of Jack as very high. I hope that with the Ducati, Jack finds a bike that he really likes and gets familiar with very quickly.”
Miller’s robust style and celebrated ability on wet tracks – such as his win at the wet 2016 Dutch TT – will be key factors in Miller’s transition from a Honda RC213V to the Ducati GP17 next year.
“There should be some complimentary points between the Ducati and Jack’s style. He is very strong on the brakes and that is a strong point of the Ducati,” Gabarrini said.
“It depends on the track, but in general with the Ducati you have to brake and tip into the corner at the same moment to keep the front loaded.
“And I think Jack has the ability to then pick up the bike and use the rear tyre immediately on exit which is something that works very well with the Ducati.
“There are also moments Jack can be a little bit reckless in his style and there are times our bike needs that.
“And as both Danilo Petrucci and Scott Redding have shown, the Ducati is very good in the wet and we know how fast Jack is in those conditions.
“I’m hoping that these points will come together in a short time for Jack on our bike.”
By Colin Young
As printed in AMCN Vol 67 No 08
