MILLER SAYS YAMAHA BECOMES UNRIDEABLE IN RACE TRIM

Jack Miller’s difficult MotoGP farewell season continued at the Indonesian Grand Prix, where he crashed out of Sunday’s race on lap five after struggling with his Pramac Yamaha throughout the Mandalika weekend. The Australian described the bike as nearly “unrideable” once it was set up for race conditions, despite feeling more positive about its balance in practice and warm-up.

“I had a great feeling this morning, or at least a reasonably good one,” Miller said after the race. “But as soon as we get into race trim, the bike becomes almost unrideable.” He suggested the problem might involve the fuel mapping, while stressing that the cause remained unclear: “There’s something going on in the background that makes riding this bike very difficult.”

Miller said he was having trouble slowing the machine and that its engine was not behaving as expected. He also pointed to the Yamaha V4’s fuel consumption, which he said was consistently too high and needed to be addressed. The handling problems left him unable to brake or turn in effectively. “As soon as I start pushing, the front wheel locks up, and I can’t do anything about it,” he said. “We need to work harder to figure out what’s causing this.”

The crash added to a bleak weekend for Pramac. Teammate Toprak Razgatlioglu also retired from the race, a few laps after Miller, because of discomfort from a shoulder injury sustained on Saturday morning.

Miller now turns to the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island. The event will be his final MotoGP appearance at the circuit, which is also due to leave the championship calendar at the end of the season. Miller is set to move to World Superbike in 2027, where Phillip Island will host the opening round, giving him an early return to the track. “We’re going to Australia and we’ll see what we can achieve there,” he said.