Jack Miller drove his Yamaha to a surprising fifth place during Friday practice at the Sachsenring, leaving the rest of the manufacturer’s line-up behind by a remarkable ten places. The Australian’s best lap, recorded while chasing a group of KTMs, left him just 0.447 seconds behind session leader Marc Marquez. Even his second-fastest effort – set independently – would have achieved eighth place, putting him between Aprilia front runners Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin.
Reflecting on the session, Miller expressed rare satisfaction at the track’s demands: “I felt good on the pace. I felt good alone. It’s nice to be on a track where we’re not dependent on horsepower,” he said, highlighting how the Sachsenring’s layout allowed him to exploit the Yamaha’s strengths. “You’re just playing with the throttle the whole way here and we might find the grip a little easier than on last year’s bike.”
Nevertheless, Miller quickly tempered expectations, and reiterated his season-long belief about Yamaha’s lack of outright power. “We sometimes brake 15-metres late than everyone else. Then we also have to accelerate 15-metres earlier than everyone else. So you’re asking a lot from the chassis and the tyres,” he explained. “The thing all year has been that we need more horsepower. We are missing 15 to 20 horsepower compared to others, minimum. Then the bike will behave like a completely different motorcycle.”
Miller acknowledged that the Yamaha’s handling characteristics required extraordinary effort from both rider and machine: “The bike doesn’t behave too badly but you’re asking a lot from it, so when you finish some qualifying, you say, ‘How come I’m P16 with laps like that?’ And I can’t do anything more than that.”
Amid ongoing uncertainty about his MotoGP future, Miller’s Friday lead provided a much-needed morale boost. “I believe I’m one of the best on the grid, as do we all,” he insisted. “But you know what tools you have in your pocket, let’s say. And it’s hard to show it when you don’t have a tool in your pocket.”
Drawing parallels with iconic champions, Miller underlined the vital importance of machinery in MotoGP. “Look what Marc did (in his final years) at Honda. Look what Valentino did at Ducati. When it’s not working, it’s not working,” he concluded. “When you don’t have the right package, it doesn’t matter whether you’re Marc Marquez or Valentino Rossi. Unfortunately that’s not going to happen.”
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