Marco Bezzecchi
Jack Miller is now locked down at Pramac for the 2026 MotoGP season after signing a one-year extension to his factory Yamaha contract to help them develop a V4 engine.
The 30-year-old once again spent much of a campaign facing an uncertain future this term. Miller only moved to Pramac for the 2025 MotoGP season after Yamaha rescued his premier class career with their offer of a one-year factory contract on the back of KTM releasing him.
But the Australian convinced Yamaha to retain him for another year, having shown what the four-time MotoGP Grand Prix winner can offer in his first season on the YZR-M1. Miller also offers Yamaha critical insight into V4 engines from his time on Honda, Ducati and KTM bikes.
Only factory team rider Fabio Quartararo has more points so far this year in the Yamaha fold than Miller, ahead of the Catalan Grand Prix. The Frenchman has 109 points over Miller’s 52, factory rider Alex Rins’ 45 and Pramac’s now-soon-to-be-departing Miguel Oliveira with six.
Jack Miller has heard ‘good things’ from Yamaha’s engineers about their V4 engine
Miller will partner Toprak Razgatlioglu at Pramac in 2026, as Yamaha have decided to trigger a break clause in Oliveira’s contract to release the Portuguese after this season. Oliveira also joined Pramac this year, like Miller, but he had signed a 1+1-year works contract for Yamaha.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Jack Miller from net worth to wife
Yamaha will now rely even more on Miller to help guide the development of their V4 engine ahead of its expected full debut in 2026. Test rider Augusto Fernandez will wildcard their V4 engine in the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano next week for its first public appearance, too.
Miller believes it is “unreal” that Yamaha will wildcard a developmental V4 engine at Misano with Fernandez, as it shows the programme is on the right path. The Townsville, Queensland native has even heard “good things” from Yamaha’s engineers in their private conversations.
Miller said, via MotoMatters: “It’s unreal, it means we’re on the way. Obviously, I’m having more chats than you guys are with Yamaha, and hearing good things.
“Obviously, it’s a project. Projects take time. But as long as we can start, I feel, and I feel like the engineers feel the same way, we’ve kind of reached the ceiling we have with this current bike without radically reinventing it.
“And the V4 platform, I think, if we can get it close to being on par to where we’re at the beginning, you don’t know where the ceiling is. So, I think that’s the thing that intrigues me the most about it.”
Pramac rider Jack Miller will not race Yamaha’s V4 engine until the 2026 MotoGP season
Miller and Yamaha agreeing to his one-year contract extension to stay at Pramac should also see him race their V4 engine next year. MotoMatters notes that Yamaha are unlikely to offer their four full-time riders an opportunity to race their V4 engine in the final rounds of 2025.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Pramac from the MotoGP team’s riders to bike
MotoGP’s concession rules would technically let Yamaha switch their inline-four engines for V4s this season, as the Iwata outfit being in Category D means they are not restricted to the same homologation rules as Ducati and Aprilia. Yet Yamaha face other potential restrictions.
As the Catalan GP marks round 15 of this term’s 22, Yamaha could put themselves at risk of requiring more engines beyond the permitted 10 for the season if their V4 engine had any reliability issues. Teams also cannot take a 10th unit before the Australian GP in round 19.
So, while Miller is hearing “good things” from Yamaha about the progress of the V4 engine, the Iwata squad are expected to wait until 2026 before the Pramac rider, Razgatlioglu, Rins and Quartararo get to race it. The risks of racing it sooner might not outweigh the rewards.
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