Jack Miller experienced a frustrating moment during Friday practice for the Japanese MotoGP at Motegi. The Pramac Yamaha rider nearly collided with his former Ducati teammate, Pecco Bagnaia, during the closing time attacks, leading to an instinctive reaction that left him punching himself in the face.
Miller admitted he was following Bagnaia to gain a tow. He had already used a soft rear tyre on his first attempt and tucked in behind the Italian again for a second run. But when Bagnaia ran slightly wide at Turn 11, their lines began to converge just as Miller released the brake.
“I punched myself in the face!” Miller said. “I had a good crack on the first tyre. Felt good behind Pecco, and then slipped in behind him for the second tyre. It was looking real good, and then Pecco went a little bit deep off Turn 11, and he was sort of coming back, and at that moment I was releasing the brake. I could see trajectory-wise, as always happens in that corner, you kind of come into each other. So I tried to ask a little bit more from it, the front went, and I was heading towards him with the front sliding. I thought, ‘I'm going to hit him’. And as it is when you're about to hit somebody, you kind of put everything you can to try and pull the bike away from you. As I did that, the bike grabbed grip, and I punched myself in the face! So that lap was done. I tried to do a little bit more after that, but she was all about done.”
The incident left Miller finishing the day in 18th position. Despite the setback, he remained upbeat and even entertained the crowd with a two-up stoppie alongside Alex Rins earlier in the session.
Miller also dedicated part of Friday to evaluating a new Yamaha engine map. “We had an idea from the factory for a map, just in terms of throttle progression and stuff like that. So I spent all morning trying to persevere with that, and the first exit this afternoon. But you give it as much time as you possibly can on the race weekend but then at a certain point you've got to get underway and start doing shit for the race. So after the red flag, we went back to the other map, found my rhythm and was able in the next three runs to tidy up the bike a little bit.”
He believes there is still potential to unlock, especially in braking. “I've got a little bit left up my sleeve, I believe if we can get it a little bit better stopping for those corners. It's pretty tricky out there, especially as you start to lean the thing in on the right side, the rear comes around quite a bit. You would have seen a few boys losing the rear on entry or, let's say, first touch of maximum lean. It's hard to get the engine brake right here, whether it's the new asphalt or whatever, but there's a lot of potential there as well. So we'll try and tidy it up, see what we can do tomorrow, and, yeah, have a crack.”
Regarding tyres, Miller suggested the soft rear could remain a realistic option for Sunday’s grand prix on Motegi’s new asphalt. “The tyres seem to be working pretty well here. We're waiting on numbers to come back from Michelin, but looks like the wear is pretty similar between the two, it's just performance is better here on the soft. It's normally like that when the track's new,” he concluded.
With room for improvement, Miller hopes to bounce back in the remaining practice sessions and qualifying. The competition at Motegi is expected to intensify, especially with the new asphalt altering the track’s characteristics. Jack Miller and Pecco Bagnaia are in the spotlight, while Pramac Yamaha continues to search for the optimal setup.
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