Jack Miller admits Yamaha were wrong about controversial Ducati MotoGP part being ‘outlawed’

Add as preferred source on Google

Jack Miller has joined the Yamaha stable with Pramac for the 2025 MotoGP season. He was the last rider to secure his spot on the grid.

In 2024, Pramac became the first non-factory team to win the MotoGP riders’ championship through Jorge Martin. But they have split with Ducati for the new season, instead linking up with Yamaha.

Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins remain in place, but Pramac will field a brand new line-up. Miller joins after losing his seat at KTM, while Miguel Oliveira has arrived from Trackhouse.

Yamaha are looking to bounce back in 2025 after a disappointing couple of years. They have finished fourth in the constructors’ championship in each of the past two seasons.

The factory squad wound up eighth in the teams’ standings with 144 points. Only Honda were slower.

Meanwhile, Ducati are currently setting the standard in the premier class. They have won five titles in a row, and that dominance is expected to continue.

Yamaha ‘anticipated’ that MotoGP would ban Ducati ride-height device, Jack Miller says

Ducati have been the pioneers of the controversial ride-height device in MotoGP. It began with anti-wheelie technology for use at the start of races, and evolved into a system that kicks in on corner exit.

As is the way in motorsport, Ducati’s rivals copied the innovation when they saw the associated performance advantage. Nevertheless, Yamaha believed that it violated the spirit of the rules as an artificial aid.

The front ride-height device was banned first. And the FIM subsequently announced they would be outlawed completely from 2027, when the new ruleset kicks in.

But by that point, Ducati could well have extended their title streak to seven. And speaking to Crash.net, Miller accepted that Yamaha may have suffered from misreading the regulatory landscape.

“I feel that maybe they anticipated they were going to be outlawed before and so [they] didn’t need [them] early doors,” he said. “But now we’ve obviously found out that they’ve been around for quite a bit of time.

“And the same with the winglets. We went through a stage where we thought winglets were outlawed. Then they basically found a way to get around the rule.

“It’s also crazy to see what the back of the bikes look like now. But focusing a massive part of your budget on that is a huge thing.”

Marco Melandri has already made a big prediction about Yamaha ahead of the 2025 season

Yamaha may once again be reliant on the skill of Quartararo this year. The 2021 world champion delivered a commendable 13th-place finish in last year’s championship.

Rins admits he can’t match Quartararo because of the Frenchman’s greater experience with the team. The engineers are now well-versed in his preferences.

On a more optimistic note, Marco Melandri believes Yamaha will be the most-improved team on the grid in 2025. The new partnership with Pramac will aid development significantly.