Jack Miller, 2026 is make-or-break: his last chance in MotoGP

He secured a renewal with Yamaha and will have another chance in MotoGP: will this be Miller’s last call?

In the past two years, one rider who risked not being on the top-class grid and then managed to stay is certainly Jack Miller. After a disappointing end to his two-year stint with KTM, his MotoGP career seemed practically over, but Pramac and Yamaha decided to bet on him to capitalize on his experience. Having raced for multiple manufacturers (Honda, Ducati, and KTM), they thought he could be a valuable asset for developing the M1.

The 30-year-old Australian scored 79 points and finished 17th in the 2025 MotoGP standings. He beat his teammate Miguel Oliveira by 36 points. His best result in a sprint race was fourth at Phillip Island, while in a full-length race his top finish was fifth, in Austin. Between Saturday and Sunday he made the top 9–10 on eight occasions. Obviously, having to adapt to a different bike like the Yamaha M1, equipped with an inline-four engine, was not easy. He was used to riding V4 prototypes, and this experience can certainly be useful to the Iwata factory, which has invested heavily in that engine configuration and will adopt it in the 2026 World Championship.

Unfortunately, Miller has confirmed that he is a rider who crashes a lot: last season it happened 25 times. Only Johann Zarco (28) did worse than him in MotoGP. A few too many crashes and a lack of consistency have always marked his top-class career; he will have to try to improve in 2026.

Next year almost all contracts on the grid expire, including his, so it will be crucial to deliver a high-level season. The risk of being left without a seat for 2027 would be enormous if he doesn’t achieve results deemed acceptable by Yamaha and Pramac. It will be a rider market with many possible changes, and the Iwata manufacturer is ready to make significant moves. The only one assured of having an M1 for another year is Toprak Razgatlioglu, who signed a two-year deal and in 2026 will line up alongside Miller in the Prima Pramac Yamaha team.

If things were to go badly, it’s unlikely the Australian would get another MotoGP chance for 2027, the year he would turn 32. At that point, he should seriously consider a potential move to the Superbike World Championship, from which he had already received offers from BMW and Honda in 2025. It’s too early to dwell on it. In the meantime, in recent days Jackass was among the protagonists of the 100 km dei Campioni at Valentino Rossi’s Motor Ranch in Tavullia: he had fun with fellow riders on the flat track before turning his focus solely to his family.

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