Start drama pays off for Jack Miller at COTA MotoGP: “I set a land speed record running back!”

Sunday’s chaotic start to the Americas MotoGP at COTA brought back memories of the 2018 Argentine Grand Prix - when Jack Miller was the only rider to correctly predict a dry track, leaving him alone on pole as the rest of the field scrambled to pit lane.

This time, however, Miller found himself benefiting from the confusion rather than being the lone man left behind.

Back in 2018, the rules stated that anyone starting the warm-up lap from pit lane should then start the race ‘from the back of the grid’.

But how do 23 riders all start at the back? A new grid was formed with Miller on pole and the rest of the field lining up several empty rows behind the Pramac Ducati rider and eventually finished fourth.

A more detailed protocol has since been introduced for ‘MotoGP Grid And Pit Lane Weather-Related Tyre Changes’.

Those rules state that leaving the grid before the warm-up lap means a rider can still start from the grid, after changing bike/tyres, but must then serve a ride through penalty in the race.

Anyone pitting after the warm-up lap, must start the race from the end of pit lane, and also serve a ride through penalty. If more than ten riders are due to start the race from pit lane, the start is delayed.

But as Sunday’s events proved, there are still loopholes and areas of confusion.

Overwhelmed by the number of riders sprinting from the grid a few minutes before the warm-up lap, the start was delayed “due to safety concerns. Given the number of riders, bikes and pit staff on the grid and in the pitlane area.”

By calling a quick restart, the three riders who had correctly chosen slicks on the original grid - Brad Binder, Enea Bastianini and Ai Ogura - had their advantage erased.

This time Miller, having already helped Fabio Quartararo restart his fallen Yamaha on the sighting lap, was a beneficiary of the chaos.

Miller’s Sprint to the Pits - and Lucky Escape

Miller was originally planning to head into pit lane on the warm-up lap, which would have meant a pit lane start before he saw Marquez bolt from the grid.

“I didn't know we were allowed to run off the grid, I forgot about that. I was coming in on the [warm-up] lap,” he revealed.

“But once I saw Marc go, I set a land speed record running back to the box!”

But when Miller reached the Pramac garage, he discovered a new problem - his spare Yamaha was also fitted with wet tyres.

“We kind of got away with it because there'd been a miscommunication and the bike in the box also had wet tyres.

“So I left a bike with wets, and got onto a bike with wets! Thank God they red flagged [the start].

“We got a chance to put the right tyres in and go again. We had luck on our side today.”

Miller Delivers Yamaha’s Best Result of the Season

Once the chaos settled, Miller made the most of the restart, riding to an impressive fifth place - Yamaha’s best finish of the season so far.

“I was really trying to nurse that soft tyre home, just to make sure I had enough for the end. And we got there,” he said.

“The bike was working well. I'm happy. Feels good to be back in the top 5 and to come away in tricky conditions like that with a solid race and no real mistakes. I enjoyed it.”

“Almost like a victory”

Team director Gino Borsoi hailed Miller’s performance, highlighting the margin to Ducati race winner Francesco Bagnaia.

“For Prima Pramac Yamaha, securing a top five finish at this stage of the new partnership with Yamaha is almost like a victory,” he said. “More importantly, the fact that Jack‘s gap to the leaders was just 11 seconds - compared to 22 seconds last year - demonstrates the significant progress we are making.

“Yamaha and our team have been continuously improving, and at least on this track, we‘ve cut our deficit in half, which is a strong indicator that we‘re heading in the right direction.

“Jack is simply outstanding—he put his heart into the race and maintained an impressively consistent pace, which is crucial for the development of the YZR-M1.

“A fantastic effort from him, and also from Augusto [Fernandez], who, despite the challenges of a last-minute call-up, not only finished in the points but also provided invaluable support to our engineers.

“Like the rest of the team, he did an exceptional job.”

Yamaha test rider Fernandez, riding in place of the injured Miguel Oliveira, was 13th on his Yamaha Grand Prix debut.