Jack Miller points to significant reason Yamaha will return to top of MotoGP

Jack Miller is adamant that Yamaha will return to the summit of MotoGP.

The manufacturer has struggled badly since Fabio Quartararo won the 2021 title, and are a far cry from the heyday from Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo.

But, this year, they acquired the Pramac satellite team from Ducati which doubled their presence on the grid.

Pramac Yamaha rider Miller points to key individuals in the background who will make the difference.

“They have managed to poach a few good boys from Ducati, guys who I thought would never leave. That’s pretty magical,” Miller told the Gypsy Tales podcast.

“Having those guys will speed up the process. It’s one thing to poach somebody, but another to trust them and believe them. Trust the direction that they’re leading your project. It’s difficult to do.

“If [engineers] don’t agree with [each other], the chief engineer says ‘we are going this way’. Then why have you hired [the other engineers?]

“It’s not trying to reinvent the wheel, it’s trying a different way of thinking, a different approach to the issues.”

Marco Nicota (Yamaha’s head of aerodynamics) and Max Bartolini (technical director) were tempted away from Ducati to spearhead the revival project.

Jack Miller's experience can help Yamaha development

Miller and Miguel Oliveira are the Pramac satellite riders.

But crucially, Miller insists a change of mind-set is key to Yamaha’s restoration.

He has praised “recruitment, work, and the projects that they’ve got”.

Miller added: “They won the championship in ‘21 but it seems like a decade ago.

“They are doing some incredible things at the track and away from the track.

"Rome wasn’t built in a day, and they know that. That was some of the issues we had with the last manufacturer.

“Ducati didn’t just take a magic pill. It’s about 1%. Not being frustrated with ‘here’ and saying ‘f***, we need a revolution’.

“It’s a process. That’s what Ducati did with Andrea Dovizioso. That’s what I feel Yamaha is doing with Fabio Quartararo, and hopefully me.”

Miller brings experience of the Honda, Ducati and KTM. Teammate Oliveira has ridden a KTM and an Aprilia in MotoGP, while factory rider Alex Rins was previously on a Suzuki.

Miller said about his own experience: “I have got a lot of stuff that I can bounce back to, different experiences and motorcycles.

“So when I give information or input, I’ve got something to bounce it off, a different point of view. That’s useful.

“In combination with somebody who knows the bike very well. That’s all [Quartararo] knows in MotoGP, it’s the only bike he’s ridden.

“Rins has experience on a Suzuki which was another inline-four. Miguel has an Aprilia and KTM background.

“They did very well in terms of recruitment for the project.”

Jack Miller: 'The uncertainty was there'

Miller almost lost his MotoGP career last year, when he was let go by KTM who preferred to promote Pedro Acosta.

His time appeared to be up until the new Pramac Yamaha team came calling.

He said about his career seemingly dwindling away: “It was rough. I didn’t feel like I was done.

“I had a lot of talks with myself and with [my wife]. The thing that upset me more than anything was that it wasn’t on my terms.

“The band-aid I put on it for myself was: what sportsman gets to choose?

“Very few actually do that. Daniel Ricciardo, Valentino Rossi. Vale did so many years and I’m sure he would have done more, given the right opportunity and package. He still loved it and wanted to be competitive.

“A sportsperson very rarely gets to choose when their time is up.

“That was the point that I came to.”

Miller added: “You know the uncertainty is there.

“I am extremely grateful for where I am. I am trying to grab this opportunity with both hands.

“Whenever any of the brands I’ve worked for, I am pretty f***** good with my time and how I deal with people. They say jump, I say how high. I don’t question it.”