Jack Miller has announced he will be making a surprise guest appearance in the final round of the 2021 Australian Superbike Championship before getting his head down on preparations for the 2022 MotoGP World Championship season.
The only Australian competing in MotoGP - though he will be joined by Remy Gardner in 2022 - Miller completed his first season as a factory Ducati rider with a third place finish in the Valencia MotoGP finale, securing him fourth position in the standings.
Joining his counterparts by staying back in Valencia to begin post-season MotoGP testing this week, Miller will then return to his native Australia to prepare for a wild-card outing in the domestic Superbike series.
He will ride a Red Bull-backed Ducati Panigale V4 R in the finale, to be held at The Bend Motorsport Park, near Adelaide in South Australia, on 3-5 December.
“I am really excited to be able to have this opportunity and race the final round of Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK). I would love to say a massive thank you to the guys at Ducati for allowing me this opportunity amidst our busy testing schedule.
“To go and race in front of the Australian fans is a massive privilege and honour. Thank you the team at ASBK and Motorcycling Australia for their support at such short notice. I am also thankful to Ben Henry from DesmoSport Ducati for his help in the organisation.
“As you can imagine it has not been easy to try and organise everything from the other side of the world at such short notice, having Ben and Matty Macalpine there to help me organise most things, has been very easy.
“I am very excited to be able to race in front of the Australian fans at least one time this year, it is going to be fantastic. I look forward to seeing everyone there!”
Miller’s appearance will coincide with the title decider in a season still heavily affected by Australia’s strict rules regarding COVID-19 with various state-instigated restrictions of movement causing a number of rounds to be cancelled.
As such, two of the six rounds expected to be completed thus far haven’t gone ahead, leaving a five month gap between what is now the penultimate Round 4 in June, to December’s The Bend finale.
Ducati’s Wayne Maxwell remains in pole position for the title, 26 points clear of Glenn Allerton (BMW). Cru Halliday and soon-to-be factory Ducati WorldSSP rider Oli Bayliss are third and fourth overall.
