Jack Miller: “It's the way of the world sometimes”

Pushed out of KTM by the signing of Enea Bastianini and Maverick Vinales, Jack Miller’s MotoGP future was hanging in the balance for much of last season.

But after just three rounds with Pramac Yamaha, the Australian has silenced many of his doubters.

Miller’s fifth place at COTA was Yamaha’s best GP result since 2023 and he’s also the leading M1 rider with tenth in the world championship.

It’s a dramatic turnaround for a rider many had written off following a frustrating 2024 campaign, which saw him slump to 14th in the standings - his lowest championship finish in nearly a decade.

“I firmly believed that I had more to give, but that's the way of the world sometimes. How this game is,” Miller reflected.

“But you can't get angry at it, you’ve just got to take the opportunities and try to make the most of them. 

"And that's what we're doing.”

Miller charged from ninth on the grid at COTA to finish as the top non-Ducati, crossing the finish line less than a second behind Franco Morbidelli.

“To see how happy everyone was with the top five was really cool,” Miller said.

“I still want to give them more, we want to get closer and closer, but [Sunday] was a good day, so you've got to take the little wins when you get them.

“We'll try to take the momentum and keep it going into Qatar, another very different track, but I believe more suited to the Yamaha than say Argentina.

“[COTA’s] been really good with the grip level. I feel like we've been able to use the bike more normally. 

"And we'll keep plugging away at it, keep trying to make the bike better and better.”

A happy Miller is a fast Miller

A factory MotoGP rider for the previous four years, at Ducati and KTM, Miller is revelling in a return to Pramac, where he raced a Desmosedici from 2018-2020.

“I'm thoroughly enjoying my time at Pramac and the environment [here],” Miller said.

“Working with the Yamaha guys also feels really good, refreshing.

“I do my best work when I'm happy and I think I'm pretty happy at the minute.”

With Yamaha benefitting from testing concessions, the Australian is hopeful that progress will continue - even if there’s a long road ahead.

“We're [all] chasing the red bikes at the moment. And obviously, they hit the nail on the head with last year's package, because that's really strong as well," he said.

“But we've got extra testing [concessions] and other things to try to improve.

“Rome wasn't built in a day, we'll have good days and we'll have bad days, but slowly but surely we’ll work our way back up the leaderboard.

“I have full faith in that.”

Miller's Sunday performance helped Yamaha outscore all of its MotoGP rivals barring Ducati at Austin.

The Japanese manufacturer will start next weekend's Qatar round fifth and last in the constructors' standings but now only five points behind Aprilia, six from KTM and eight from Honda.