Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan and Casey Stoner left an incredible legacy as Aussie riders in MotoGP, and now the hugely-popular Miller carries the to🦹rch.

But he insists that his early days - and s🍃kipping from Moto3 straight into the premier class where he rode for Honda and Ducati before KTM - were fraught with the need to live up to the legends of the past.

“There is always a lot of criticism and it comes with the territory of being a little bi🃏t outspoken,” Miller told .

“If you put yourself out there, there are positives and negatives. General🔥ly more posi🐭tives but there is a lot of doubt.

“Is it the Australian thing? Coming after a lot of successfu🃏l riders, the only ones that have made it have been super-successful world champions.

“💛Theirs areꦆ big boots to fill so there is extra pressure and expectation.

“Now not so much, but in the past I had to prove myself more to get a bump up in job, or to continue my job, 🌳or to move up the ladder.

“I’ve been constantly working my w🔥ay up tꦐhe pecking order.”

Milꦛler swapped his factory Ducati seat to join KTM this season, and heard the whispers of critics even before his first race.

“It was already hap🐟pening as I was signing the contract!

“The🥀 comment I read was ‘he’ll be moving to WorldSBK’ - like that’s a bad thing?

“They try to use that as an insult.

“Let’s give it✨ a crack and see what happens! A change was what I felt that I needed.

“Throughout winter♕ testing I heard ‘maybe he’s not getting along…’”

'I'm an idiot, a bit of a clown! People enjoy a character'

Miller is now one of the most popular names and faces on t♏h𒀰e MotoGP grid.

“I’m at the point where I don’t really care,” ✱he said about his unique personality. 

“I have my opinion. If you ask and it’s what you🌱 like, good. If it’s not? That’s your problem, not mine.

“I feel completꦏe in terms of where I’m at in my racing career. I’ve done alrig𒐪ht, better than I imagined.

“I was a cocky kid but, deep down, you never know. There have been points in my career where I thought I’d be heading꧟ home shortly, to get a job!

“People enjoy a character. That’s who I am, at the end of the𒆙 day.

“An idiot, a bit of a clown✃! But I’m real. I’ll happily give everyone my time.

“I remember being꧟ a fan watching guys like Valentino Rossi get mobbed. It’s cool to push t🍒he next generation on, and to show them that you don’t have to be a robot! Or to be a certain way to succeed.”

Mill🐻er has been on the MotoGP podium with three different manufacturers.

This year he has been part of🔯 KTM’s impressive push, finishing third in Spain.

This 🌌weekend, the Austrian MotoGP, is KTM’s home race♚.

“I feel like I’m getting better,” Miller said.

“I don’t get flustered or sಞtressed as much. I still take the job as seriously as I ever did, but with the experience that you gain, you become comfortable with being uncomfortable.

“A younger me would be a lot more stressed.”

He assessed his season s🐠o far: “Six out of 10. I was happy with the sprint races in Germany and Jerez. But there were moments,🅰 in Austin, I felt strong but then I dumped it.

“In Assen, I felt good on Fri🎶day, again dumped it when I felt that we could do something decent.

“There have been a lot of ‘what ifs’.

“You can’t get too overly stressed about it. When you’re learnꦫing a new bike, 🍸what it wants…

“You try to make it second🀅-nature and the only way to do that is to push it.”