What Jack Miller will bring to Pramac Yamaha

The final piece in the 2025 MotoGP grid jigsaw is set to fall into place this weekend with confirmation that Jack Miller has signed to race for Pramac Yamaha.

Miguel Oliveira has already been named as the first rider for the new satellite M1 project.

Meanwhile, after losing his KTM seat, Miller’s MotoGP future was looking bleak, with Yamaha initially tipped to sign a rookie as Oliveira’s team-mate.

But momentum has swung firmly behind the four-time premier-class race winner, whose looming Pramac Yamaha deal was among the topics of discussion on the latest Crash.net MotoGP podcast.

Host Jordan Moreland said: “This weekend's grand prix is sponsored by Pramac. It's also their home race.  Gino Borsoi has said they are going to announce their rider this week. It’s going to be Jack Miller isn’t it? What’s your take on that move? Jack’s had a lot of experience in MotoGP on different bikes.”

“He has,” replied Crash.net MotoGP editor Pete McLaren. “The first rumours were that maybe Yamaha would go for one experienced rider, Oliveira, and a rookie.

“Then we saw things suddenly change and momentum go with Jack. You do wonder if that was maybe the Yamaha engineers saying, ‘We're in a development phase. We want the info from somebody who's coming from three other bikes’.

“If you put together the experience of Jack and Olivera, they've ridden every other bike on the grid. That's a lot of information. And I think that's probably swung things in Jack's favour.

“The first test at Valencia is going to be massive for Yamaha, those first initial reactions that Miller and Oliveira give. Because the trouble with MotoGP riders is they adapt so quickly. It’s a skill you need because you go from track to track, different conditions. You adapt and move on.

“But what the Yamaha engineers will want is to directly compare the bike, 'tell us exactly what it needs' and Valencia is the best chance to do that. The riders are usually mic’d up in the pits now, and all of those recordings will be going back to Japan.

“For example, if the Yamaha riders had a problem in a certain sector in the race weekend. Then you hear Miguel and Jack say, ‘this is what the Aprilia was doing through there. This is what the KTM was doing’. It just gives engineers some real clues of what they need to work on.

“So I think the Jack signing is an acknowledgement that Yamaha still needs to develop the bike and guys like Jack and Oliveria have the experience to do that.”

“Lewis, what's your take on it?” Moreland said. “I think it's a real statement from Yamaha, also combined with Dovi perhaps getting involved in more of a permanent role.”

“I think if you look at both Japanese manufacturers, it might not seem like it on track, but Yamaha do seem to be making the biggest progress,” said MotoGP journalist Lewis Duncan.

“You look at Yamaha this year, they've been bringing engines, they've been bringing chassis, they've been bringing different parts. Maybe they've not always worked, but they've brought them and that's the crucial thing. They've changed from the Japanese mentality more towards the European style.

“I think Max Bartolini, who was Gigi Dall’Igna’s right-hand man at Ducati, has been a really important figure in that. And therefore bringing Jack in makes sense as well, because he's had that prior working relationship with Bartolini.

“In some ways, it is a shame that we’re not seeing a rookie rider given an opportunity at Pramac.  

“We know Sergio Garcia’s name was linked quite heavily to that and since his avenue to MotoGP has closed down, it's been a really, really tough time for him in Moto2. He's really suffered mentally because of that.

“But you can understand from Yamaha's point of view: ‘We need to get up the grid quicker'. We've got a big rule change coming at the end of 2026. You kind of need to have a competitive platform to build on to go into that.

“So for Yamaha, it makes 100% sense to bring these experienced guys in. There's been a lot talk about Jack and his passport. And it definitely has helped but this is a guy who Ducati had developing things like the ride height device.

“Even when he’d signed his factory KTM contract, Gigi Dall’Igna was still asking Jack to test things and give feedback. So from that perspective, he’s a great test rider and he wants to race.

“So it’s a perfect match up really: Yamaha get a great test rider and Jack gets to race, which is what he wants to do.”