Jack Miller on his €1 million demand: “You have to aim high”

It has been official since 8 September: Jack Miller is moving from MotoGP to the World Superbike Championship at the end of this season and has signed a contract with the Yamaha factory team for 2027 and 2028. This followed months of negotiations, during which the Australian explored all his options.

We recall the headlines in mid-July when it was leaked that Miller had demanded an annual salary of one million euros during the initial talks – a utopian demand in the World Superbike paddock, with very few exceptions.

When you go into negotiations, you aim high.

Jack Miller

“That’s right,” Jack confirmed his original salary demand in an exclusive interview with SPEEDWEEK.com at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg. “At the end of the day, I love this job and would do it for free, but all riders should be paid what they’re worth. It takes a long time to build up our reputation, our brand, our name. The World Championship and its organisers make a lot of money, so they should be able to pay the main players accordingly. When you go into negotiations, you start high, the others start low – and then you meet somewhere in the middle. I still don’t know how the media got wind of it.”

Apart from Bimota, Jack Miller spoke to everyone

This season and next, six manufacturers are competing in the Superbike World Championship: Bimota, BMW, Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki and Yamaha. “I spoke to everyone except Bimota because I had no connection with them and their riders had already been confirmed. It was about finding out which project would be best for me to move forward – I have a vision for the Superbike World Championship with the new Michelin tyres and so on. To get a motorbike with which you can win the World Championship, you have to make certain sacrifices. That’s more true today than ever: there are riders who ride a Ducati for free, whilst others actually pay for it. That doesn’t make sense. So it’s all about putting together the right package. Hopefully we can get back to the point where Yamaha clinched the World Championship five years ago.”

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Yamaha won the last race in the Superbike World Championship on 13 April 2025 at Assen, when Andrea Locatelli inherited first place from the retired Nicolo Bulega (Ducati). The Japanese brand, with the three crossed tuning forks in its logo, has only been crowned world champion twice in the production-based class, established in 1988: in 2009 with Texan Ben Spies and in 2021 with Turkish rider Toprak Razgatlioglu.

Jack Miller (li.) mit SPEEDWEEK.com-Chefredakteur Ivo Schuetzbach

Foto: gerhard schiel