Alex Rins admitted he nearly lost control of his emotions—and possibly his bodily functions—when Jack Miller gave him a lift back to pitlane after Friday practice for the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi. The lighthearted yet hair-raising incident occurred after Rins' factory Yamaha ran out of fuel just after crossing the finish line, leaving him stranded on track.
Rins signalled other riders to stop, and Miller, passing by on his Pramac bike, didn't hesitate to offer a ride. The two immediately caught the attention of the packed Motegi crowd.
But what happened next left Rins holding his breath. Miller briefly put his knee down through a corner, leaving Rins' leg dangling on the right side of the bike. Not content with that, the Australian then performed a small stoppie on the back straight, lifting the rear wheel. Rins held on for dear life.
"I enjoyed it. I really enjoyed it. It's crazy, mate," Rins told the media. "The stoppie was not bad. We just made it nicely. But when he tried to lean the bike to touch [the track] with the knee, [I was like] 'Wow, man'. At that moment, I shat my pants. I shat my pants because I was there in the rear part of the bike. I couldn't hold him really well."
Rins added that his right leg was fully extended as Miller leaned into the corner, and he thought that if they crashed, everything would be destroyed. Still, he considered it a fun experience and predicted it would get some TV time.
Meanwhile, Miller said he didn't realise Rins didn't have a separate foot peg at the rear of the bike. "I was hoping he was going to have his knee down and it would look like a mega picture, but then I looked at it back, and I thought, 'Oh, he didn't have foot pegs, did he?'. So, obviously, he had nothing to rest his foot on to remotely put his knee out," Miller said.
The 31-year-old also revealed he could have performed the stoppie at a higher speed but was overly cautious about losing rear tyre temperature on the in-lap. "I was a bit nervous when I was doing a stoppie," he admitted. "In hindsight, if I knew it was going to be as good as it was, I would have had more of a crack. But no, it looked good, had some people laugh, so that's what we're here for."
This incident added a lighter note amid the intense competition leading up to qualifying. Both riders appeared relaxed but focused on the race weekend. Rins, riding for the factory Yamaha team, is striving to regain his best form, while Miller with Pramac continues to show speed.
The moment also highlighted the human side of the riders amid the pressures of competition. Miller and Rins' antics quickly became a hot topic in the paddock, proving that MotoGP is not just about speed but also camaraderie and unexpected entertaining moments.
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