MILLER WARNS OF SAFETY RISKS AS YAMAHA SKIPS QATAR GP

Jack Miller left the Malaysian Grand Prix frustrated by his Yamaha’s lack of grip and concerned about the prospect of racing in Qatar amid heightened tensions in the Middle East. The Australian finished 16th, last among the classified riders, after struggling throughout Sunday’s race.

“I had no grip from the start to the end of the race, and in the first corner it was like riding on ice,” Miller said. He tried several engine settings and briefly kept Pecco Bagnaia behind, but the Italian eventually passed him. “At the end of the race I was easy prey; there was nothing more I could do.”

Safety dominated conversations in Malaysia ahead of the next round at Lusail. Miller said opposition among riders was widespread: “Nineteen of us don’t want to race there, and I don’t want to race either. If you speak to half the people in the paddock, they don’t want to be there either.”

He described the concern that riders and team members could be predictable targets because their whereabouts are public. “Everyone knows where we’ll be at a certain time. We can’t hide where we are if someone wants to make an example of us,” he said.

With his flight to Qatar due the following day, Miller said the riders had now made their position clear and would wait for a decision. He also acknowledged that organisers could impose financial or sporting penalties, potentially affecting licences or teams. But, he argued, riders should not be forced to compete somewhere they do not feel safe. “If someone believes it’s safe and that we should race there, they should put their name to it,” he said.

The Qatar Grand Prix is still scheduled to go ahead despite the continuing uncertainty in the region. Yamaha, however, announced two hours after the Malaysian race that it would not travel to Doha, saying its latest assessment had not provided sufficient grounds to change the company’s existing travel restrictions. The manufacturer offered little further explanation.

The withdrawal covers Yamaha’s factory team and Pramac’s MotoGP operation. Fabio Quartararo, Alex Rins and Miller will be absent, while Toprak Razgatlioglu had already ended his season because of a shoulder injury. Yamaha supplies Pramac with current factory equipment and support, and its engineers and mechanics also work across the satellite team. Pramac’s Moto2 squad, including Izan Guevara and Alberto Ferrandez, is still expected to compete in Qatar; Guevara is just 3.5 points behind championship leader Manuel Gonzalez.

Yamaha is prepared to accept any contractual penalties threatened by MotoGP’s commercial organisation. The sporting impact in MotoGP is limited: Quartararo, Miller and Rins sit 14th, 19th and 20th in the riders’ standings, while Yamaha is fifth and last in the constructors’ championship. Razgatlioglu is 21st despite his early season finish.

With Yamaha’s four riders out, 18 MotoGP riders are currently expected to line up in Qatar, provided Jorge Martin attempts to race with his broken wrist. Raul Fernandez plans to return, Joan Mir is improving, and Gresini’s Alex Marquez is set to undergo surgery, with a replacement rider to be named.