Miller’s win “changes nothing” about his future, says Honda

The Australian stunned the paddock with his victory in the two-part Dutch TT on Sunday, as he became the first satellite rider to triumph in the premier class since Toni Elias at Estoril in 2006.

Miller entered MotoGP last season, having taken the unconventional route of graduating directly from Moto3 as the result of a three-year deal with Honda, but came in for criticism after a subdued first campaign for the LCR squad.

Moving to Marc VDS for his sophomore campaign, Miller had only registered a best finish of 10th at Catalunya before Assen, also missing the Austin round after breaking his foot in a practice crash.

This prompted speculation that Honda may choose to drop the 21-year-old at the end of the year.

But Suppo – who worked alongside MotoGP’s last Australian winner, Casey Stoner, at Honda – says it was always the Japanese manufacturer’s intention to retain Miller in 2017.

“This should be a starting point, to help Jack’s confidence and allow him to have more self-belief and calm,” Suppo told Motorsport.com.

“It means that the talent we saw in him is still there, it has been demonstrated. It is impossible to do what he did without talent, although he has to keep improving anyway.

“At the same time what happened doesn’t change anything because he would have been on a Honda next year anyway.

“The project was for three years, so the win changes nothing.”

Suppo added that Miller’s win was a reflection of the Australian’s new-found maturity in his second season of MotoGP.

“Last year he was a little wild,” said Suppo. “But he has grown a lot because he understood that, to compete in MotoGP, you have to work, work, work.”

While Tito Rabat’s tough start to the season on the sister Marc VDS entry have prompted speculation about his future, Motorsport.com understands the Belgian squad is likely to continue with an unaltered line-up in 2017.