Jack Miller (11th) surprises with praise for Yamaha: “It’s working pretty well”

Jack Miller and his team-mates have voiced a great deal of criticism of the Yamaha M1 in recent weeks. In particular, the lack of engine power has been a constant source of frustration for the Pramac rider. After the Grand Prix at MotorLand Aragon, however, the Australian highlighted the progress made and gave his bike a surprisingly positive review.

At first glance, the result gave little cause for celebration. Miller finished 11th as the best-placed Yamaha rider, losing a whopping 27.2 seconds to race winner Marc Marquez over 23 laps. In a battle with the KTMs of Enea Bastianini and Brad Binder, he came off second best in the closing stages.

Miller was the strongest of the four Yamaha riders at Aragon

“All in all, it was a decent weekend. I gave it everything I had in this race,” said Miller, who managed to hold his own in the top 10 for a while. “Unfortunately, we had to concede positions to the KTMs in the end. I tried to make it as difficult as possible for them, but somehow I felt like I was fighting with my hands tied behind my back.”

He was referring in particular to the M1’s ongoing top-speed deficit. Miller was able to play to his strengths under braking, but on the straights he was powerless against the KTM riders.

“When Enea overtook me, I tried to make it as difficult as possible for him by braking very late. But in the end, he overtook me right in the middle of the straight and took a very tight line through the final corner. Brad did exactly the same. There’s not much more you can do in that situation.”

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Praise for the M1’s handling

Despite this well-known weakness, Miller’s overall assessment of the current M1 is now significantly more positive. The 31-year-old believes Yamaha is now on the right track, particularly when it comes to handling. “To be honest, the bike works pretty well. I can’t fault it in the corners. We’re simply losing too much on the straights, but we know that,” Miller noted. “There’s not much we can do about it at the moment, so there’s no point in complaining about it. We just have to carry on with what we’ve got.”

Miller was also satisfied with his own performance. “I was really happy with my pace and didn’t make any mistakes. I had a minor collision on the first lap, but apart from that it was a pretty clean race right to the end.”

Tyre management played a key role in this. Miller had learnt his lesson from Saturday’s sprint and was particularly careful with his front tyre during the Grand Prix. That came at a price, however. “If you go easy on the front tyre, you lose a bit of cornering speed. Yesterday, in the sprint, I was one of the fastest in that area. I think in the final sector I was about fourth overall and even faster than Marc – and I can assure you that wasn’t down to the back straight,” joked the Australian.

Der schwache Topspeed wirft Yamaha weiterhin zurück

Foto: Gold & Goose

However, Miller was unable to maintain this aggressive riding style over the full Grand Prix distance. “In the main race, I couldn’t ride the bike like that. You end up with too much understeer at the front and ruin the tyre. That’s why I was more cautious this time.”

The strategy paid off. The front and rear tyres lasted right through to the final stages. “It got quite critical on the last lap, but up until then I was really happy with the performance. The tyre was worn out by the end, but that’s exactly how it’s supposed to be.”

Miller sees clear progress at Yamaha

Particularly noteworthy was Miller’s assessment of the M1’s fundamental development. At the start of the season, the completely new Yamaha bike was still causing considerably more difficulties. Miller now considers the base machine to be significantly more competitive – even if the engine remains the decisive weak point.

“Of course, simply adding 20 PS more power changes the character of a motorbike,” explained Miller, referring to the lack of engine power. “But even so, I believe we’ve significantly improved this motorbike in a fairly short space of time.” The veteran rider pointed out just how new the current project still is. “It’s a completely new motorbike this year. We’re trying to get the most out of what we’ve got.”

The conclusion following Aragon is therefore unusually positive: Miller now considers the Yamaha M1 to be at a good level in terms of the chassis and, in particular, its cornering behaviour. However, the key weakness remains unchanged. As long as the M1 is significantly lacking in power on the straights, even the best Yamaha rider can only play to his strengths to a limited extent in direct one-on-one battles.