Jack Miller (Yamaha): “The new rules are coming and will slow Ducati down”

In 39 years of the Superbike World Championship, motorbike giant Yamaha has only managed to win the title twice: in 2009 with Ben Spies and in 2021 with Toprak Razgatlioglu. Ever since the Turkish rider moved to BMW in frustration after the 2023 season – because he was becoming increasingly out of his depth against Ducati with the underpowered R1 engine – Yamaha has had no say in the matter. The only victory since then was secured by Andrea Locatelli on 13 April 2025 at Assen, though this was effectively handed to him on a plate because Ducati star Nicolo Bulega had retired with a failing V4R. ‘Loka’ also achieved the best World Championship result since Toprak, finishing fourth last year.

The 2026 season is dominated by Ducati, with five of the top six riders on bikes from Borgo Panigale. Only Bimota ace Alex Lowes, currently fourth overall, breaks up the line-up. The best Yamaha rider, Locatelli, is languishing in 11th place with just two rounds remaining.

With Jack Miller, Yamaha has signed a MotoGP winner for the 2027 and 2028 seasons, who brings experience of prototype machines from Honda, Ducati, KTM and Yamaha. Together with Locatelli, he forms the factory team, whilst the Giansanti Racing satellite team continues to compete with Remy Gardner and Stefano Manzi.

Jack Miller impressed by Yamaha’s strategy

“Our plan is to put the package together in such a way that we get back to where Yamaha was a few years ago, when they won the championship,” Miller said, offering a glimpse into the future in an exclusive interview with SPEEDWEEK.com. “The new rules are coming; they’ll slow Ducati down. Yamaha has revealed their strategy to me, and it makes me happy. Because it’s not about someone changing the rules and you being faster as a result. What Yamaha is planning is proactive, not reactive. They’re trying to make their bike more competitive, and on top of that there’s the new balance rule.”

Next year’s regulations are new in only one respect: a prescribed maximum rev limit is being added as a second balancing measure to the current restriction on fuel flow rate per manufacturer. This has been done before, but the maximum rev limit alone was insufficient as the sole balancing measure. The same applies to the permitted fuel flow rate. It is the hope of all those involved that, when combined, these measures will be more effective.

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The maximum rev limit can then be adjusted up or down in increments of 500 rpm every two events per manufacturer. The starting point depends on the maximum rev limit of the homologated production model.

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

Foto: gerhard schiel

Victory at Suzuka: the one thing still missing from Miller’s list

Yamaha’s plans for Miller also include his participation in the Suzuka Eight Hours; the manufacturer with the three crossed tuning forks in its logo last won this prestigious endurance race in 2018, with Alex Lowes, Michael van der Mark and Katsuyuki Nakasuga. Since 2022, arch-rival Honda has triumphed five times in a row.

“Things have gone well for me at Suzuka in recent years, but I’ve never won there,” Miller noted. “That’s still on my list. I really enjoy Suzuka. With the Superbike calendar comprising twelve rounds, it would be great fun to add a race like that to the mix.”