Jack Miller vows to silence critics amid constant rumours over MotoGP future

Jack Miller will attack the 2024 MotoGP season with a new mind-set and a bulked up fitness routine to hit back at his critics.

The KTM rider was forced to endure speculation about his future last season amid a disappointing run of form.

But Miller retained his factory seat - despite Pedro Acosta being welcomed into MotoGP under the KTM banner - and he knows the pressure is still on.

Miller said about his mind-set to ‘prove wrong’ his critics: “I’m trying to make that a permanent thing. To not get comfy with myself.

“To not try to get content and happy with how things are going.

“I’m trying to understand what that is, and put it in practice throughout the whole year.”

Miller crashed out of the lead in the season-finale Valencia MotoGP last season.

Immediately after, he began a new fitness routine which he hopes will pay dividends this year.

“I have been doing my training myself for the past 12 years, while I’ve been professional,” he said.

“Just going off my gut instinct and how I feel.

“I decided to switch it up at the end of last year with the help of the guys from Red Bull.

“Straight after Valencia I flew to Austria and did a heap of tests.

“From that day I started working with a trainer there, and a guy in Australia, in terms of using the gym.

“The gym and I have never really got along before!

“I am trying to switch it up to leave no stone unturned.

“I feel good, I feel leaner than ever. I’m highly motivated - and I need to be, with all these young blokes coming in to push us along!”

Chief among those ‘young blokes’ is Acosta, who joins Tech3 GASGAS as the only rookie on the 2024 MotoGP grid.

Teenager Acosta shone at the Sepang preseason test and has been tipped for stardom, heightening the pressure on Miller’s position.

But the experienced Miller also emerged from Sepang pleased with the development of his bike.

“If you told me that I’d do a ‘57 and not mention anybody else’s times, I would’ve been over the moon prior to the test,” he said.

“But the others were rapid so ‘57 probably didn’t look that great!

“I’m happy. A lot of work to be done. A lot of laps were done with variations of our bike. It was a positive test, I felt good on the bike.

“We’ve worked a lot in terms of electronics.

“I felt like I got better and better, as the three days went on.

“I was stiff after the first day, a few cramps.

“After a couple of days to think about it, I’m super keen to get back on the bike in Qatar for the test.”

Miller finished 11th in the 2023 MotoGP standings with a solitary podium finish, while teammate Brad Binder soared into fourth as the highest-placed non-Ducati.

He then went 18th, 15th and 14th fastest on each of the three days of testing in Sepang.

But Miller retains optimism that his KTM can be the closest challenger to the Ducati, and eventually overtake the Italian manufacturer’s machine as MotoGP’s best.