Jack Miller is at a crossroads in his career as MotoGP returns from the summer break this week. The Australian heads to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone without knowing where – and if – he will be racing next year.
Until a few months ago, Miller was quietly certain of continuing his relationship with KTM, revealing at Assen that he had been verbally assured of a place at the Austrian marque next season. This would have involved him moving to the current GasGas-branded Tech3 squad just as it transforms into a secondary factory team in 2025.
However, as he claimed, KTM eventually went back on its promise of extending the contract, dropping him – as well as Augusto Fernandez – in favour of an all-new line-up at Tech3 comprising Maverick Vinales and Enea Bastianini. With limited options elsewhere on the grid, it now looks increasingly likely that Miller’s career in the premier class could end after 10 years.
In many ways, it would be sad if the outspoken Australian does end up departing the MotoGP paddock just before he turns 30 in January next year. Never one to mince his words, Miller can always be relied on to pour his heart out when talking about other riders, stewards or MotoGP in general.
In a series that is becoming increasingly sedate due to the PR machines employed by manufacturers, Miller’s presence provides a breath of fresh air in MotoGP and keeps things real. It’s also one of the reasons why he has such a strong fan following in MotoGP, both in his homeland and in other parts of the world.
On the other hand, there is no denying that Miller has grossly underperformed at the factory KTM this season, even after taking into account the issues he has had with chatter on the RC16. In the nine rounds held so far, Miller has scored just 35 points and broken inside the top 10 just once on a Sunday. That puts him 16th in the championship, only one place ahead of 2022 Moto2 champion Fernandez on the GasGas-branded RC16.
Contrast that to stablemates Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder, who both have more than 100 points on their respective tallies, it’s easy to see why KTM wanted to drop the weak links in its line-up.
Fifth in Portugal remains comfortably Miller’s best result of the year, having been overshadowed by team-mate Binder and Tech3’s Acosta
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
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