Jack Miller details Maverick Vinales overtake | not “hyper-focused” on bleak 2025

Red Bull KTM’s Jack Miller will be replaced by reigning Moto2 World Champion Pedro Acosta at the factory KTM MotoGP team next season, and with his Grand Prix options dwindling the Australian seems resigned to 2024 being his last year in the championship.

Miller’s KTM tenure began at the beginning of 2023, following his departure from Ducati along with a number of engineers, including his crew chief Cristhian Pupulin.

Almost from the beginning, Miller was on a difficult path at KTM, as the rising prominence of Acosta put the Spaniard in the centre of KTM’s view of the future of its MotoGP project. 

When Acosta started the season with a podium in his second premier class Grand Prix, it became clear that KTM would want Acosta to move into the factory team in 2025, and with Brad Binder already signed up until the end of 2026, only Miller would be moved to make space for the Murcian.

Miller’s impending departure from KTM leaves him with few options to remain in MotoGP beyond this November. By now, only the Pramac Yamaha seats and the ride alongside Raul Fernandez at Trackhouse Aprilia remain available to Miller.

Ai Ogura is currently strongly linked with the Trackhouse ride, while Miguel Oliveira is thought to be on the list for Pramac.

A WorldSBK future is also a possibility for Miller, who after the MotoGP Sprint at Silverstone seemed unhopeful that his Grand Prix career will extend into next year.

“It’s all but over, so I just need to enjoy these last few [races],” Miller said.

He added that it’s probably helping his performance, though.

“Generally, as they say, a happy rider is a fast rider and I think that could be the case,” said the Australian. “I’m not hyper-focused on what the future holds, just trying to enjoy the moment.”

Miller breaks down Vinales overtake

Miller’s Silverstone Sprint ended with him in seventh place, thanks to a last lap pass on Maverick Vinales, after the factory Aprilia rider passed Miller earlier in the race.

“When Vinales came by I was really trying to sink my teeth into those boys in front: Fabio Di Giannantonio, [Alex] Marquez, Brad [Binder], and Pedro [Acosta], but I just couldn’t hang the pace.” Miller had chosen the medium-compound rear tyre, the only rider to do so, and so was losing out in acceleration.

“I was really risking it on the front end just trying to make up what I was losing in the drive areas, but I knew that could be the case with the medium [rear] tyre,” Miller said.

“But when Vinales came past, he sort of had one lap that was hot and then he sort of threw the anchor out a little bit. You could see that it was starting not to drive the best, he was having to pick up the gas early mid-corner.

“So, I was just biding my time, trying to find a decent overtaking opportunity and saved it for the last lap, and I felt like the guys in front of me had almost done the same [as Vinales] as well, so I felt like I was riding back towards them as well in the last two laps.”

Miller’s pass on Vinales on the final lap to reclaim seventh was fairly sketchy. He explained: “I knew he was braking a little bit earlier than what I was at turn six, so I knew I had a little bit of margin there, but I got too carried away accelerating through turn four, just really trying to be there to attack at turn six, so I kind of lit it up too much and lost a little bit of the drive, so then it was a lunge from a little bit of distance.

“But I knew where my braking point was and where I knew I was going to be able to pull it up by, but I had to throw everything at it, obviously burying the rear brake and so on, it was one of those ones, just to try and hold the line, not to drift wide and get cut back on, so I was able to do so.”