Jack Miller: You can't really create a nice slide

Chatter or vibration from the rear wheel has been a surprise performance issue affecting the likes of Ducati and KTM during the early rounds of the 2024 MotoGP season.

Various Ducati riders have experienced the problem this year, but the Desmosedicis then seemed untroubled at Jerez, romping to the top five places in the Sunday grand prix.

By contrast, KTM was among the worst affected in Spain.

The reason behind the emergence of chatter is unclear, but one theory is that it is linked to increased grip from this year’s Michelin rear tyre. It’s an idea backed up by some 2023-spec Ducatis suffering with vibration this year.

Whatever the cause, KTM’s Jack Miller explained what he feels has changed on track:

“It seems to be that with this ‘new’ rear tyre we're suffering a little bit more with twitching,” Miller said at Jerez. “You can't really create a nice slide, it's either pumping or it's hooked up, or it's nothing.

“So we’ve been just trying to make the bike a little bit more stable, trying to run some more rounded lines.”

“Let's say the [rear tyre] casing feels similar but the rubber feels grippier,” Miller added. “That's the reason we're going nearly a second a lap quicker everywhere [this year]!

“When the casing kind of lets go, it'll start pumping like mad, because the surface grip's there.

“It's a fantastic tyre when it's performing. It's just trying to understand how we can keep it in the window to keep it performing, and basically rethinking the way we ride.

“Looking back to Turn 1 in Austin, which in the past has kind of been a ‘V’ corner, guys were almost running Moto2 lines, running out to the kerbs on the exit which we hadn't seen before.

“It's really changed the style of MotoGP in the last three-four grand prix. And I think that's something we need to learn.”

Round five is at Le Mans this weekend, a race Miller won as a Ducati rider in 2021.