Pramac rider Jack Miller told why he got ‘lucky’ in the MotoGP Australian Grand Prix Sprint Race

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Pramac’s Jack Miller was the top Yamaha rider in the 2025 MotoGP Australian Grand Prix Sprint Race, as the home hero secured a P4 finish at Phillip Island this Saturday.

The Townsville, Queensland native also finished the Phillip Island Sprint at the Australian GP in a three-way fight for third place with KTM ace Pedro Acosta and Fabio Di Giannantonio of VR46. But Miller could not find a way past Acosta to get the final spot on the Sprint podium.

Only 0.066 seconds separated Acosta in P3 from Miller in P4, with Di Giannantonio a further 0.040s behind in P5, at the chequered flag. It was also the best Sprint Race result that Miller has had since he joined Pramac after Acosta replaced him in the factory KTM team for 2025.

Miller had finished the Sachsenring Sprint Race at the German Grand Prix this July in P5 and he had also penned P9 in the Silverstone Sprint at May’s British GP for his only other top-10 Sprint finishes in the 2025 MotoGP season so far. He also took points in those Grands Prix.

Jack Miller was ‘lucky’ to take P4 in the Phillip Island Sprint due to Yamaha’s power deficit

Yet despite Miller being the top Yamaha rider, as Aprilia ace Marco Bezzecchi won the Phillip Island Sprint Race ahead of Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez by 3.149s and by 5.310s to Acosta in P3, Michael Laverty felt a bit sorry for the 30-year-old at the chequered flag this Saturday.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Jack Miller from net worth to wife

Laverty believes Miller can be “really quite proud” of his P4 in the Phillip Island Sprint. But a podium was just out of reach owing to the Yamaha M1’s power deficit compared to the KTM RC16, which also almost saw Miller lose P4 to VR46 ace Di Giannantonio on his Ducati GP25.

Miller was even “quite lucky” to hold on to P4 in the Phillip Island Sprint, as Di Giannantonio would have taken the place off the Australian if the race had been one lap longer. The Italian breezed past Miller straight after the chequered flag after enjoying a late, double slipstream.

“I felt for him,” Laverty said on TNT Sports 2 (18/10, 05:40). “At the end, he was trying to line up a pass. But fighting Pedro Acosta is such a hard thing on the final lap, he’s got eyes in the back of his head [and] he just protected it so well over the top of Lukey Heights.

“He was where Jack wanted to be here into MG. But on the direction change, Jack tries to set up a move into the last Turn 12, but not quite to be. He punches it here off Turn 11 but, unfortunately for him, Pedro just closes the door.

“And he’s never going to beat the KTM on the run to the line, and he’s actually quite lucky the [finish] line wasn’t a little bit further as Digi was setting up a two-bike slipstream.

“But a fourth place for Jack today on the Yamaha, he dug deep and fought hard. [He’s the] top Yamaha, yeah, I think he can be really quite proud of that one. He raised his game for the Australian fans today.”

Jack Miller sets his best 2025 Sprint result for Pramac Yamaha at the Australian Grand Prix

While Miller may have been a tad “lucky” to hold on to P4 in the Phillip Island Sprint, he will have been thrilled to take his best Sprint Race result as a Pramac Yamaha rider. If he had lost P4 to Di Giannantonio late on, Miller would also have still been by far the best Yamaha rider.

READ MORE: Everything to know about the Australian Grand Prix, including past winners

Factory Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo claimed pole position for the Australian GP earlier on Saturday, as he beat Bezzecchi by 0.031s and Miller in P3 by 0.243s. But Quartararo failed to convert his single-lap speed and finished the Phillip Island Sprint in P7, 8.706s from the lead.

Miller in P4 was also 3.330s ahead of Quartararo in P7 at the end of the Phillip Island Sprint, as the Pramac pilot fell narrowly short of KTM’s Acosta for P3 on the final lap. Alex Rins and Miguel Oliveira on the other two Yamaha M1s even finished the Sprint back in P13 and P14.

Quartararo and Miller’s lack of speed on Phillip Island’s straights also showed why Yamaha are developing a V4 engine for 2026, which they hope can move the M1 closer to the KTM and Ducati packages. KTM and Ducati’s engines are widely regarded as the best in MotoGP.