Jack Miller says KTM told him it would keep him somewhere in its fold for 2025 then gave him just hours' notice that it had signed Enea Bastianini and Maverick Vinales for its remaining MotoGP seats instead.
Miller lost his factory ride when KTM promoted Pedro Acosta to its works line-up alongside Brad Binder for next year.
The door still seemed open to a move to satellite team Tech3 until it announced current Ducati rider Bastianini and Aprilia convert Vinales earlier this month.
“Last I heard was, ‘Don’t bother talking to anybody, we want to keep you in the family’ and then you get a phone call three hours before the press release gets launched saying, ‘You’re not getting a contract’,” said Miller. “So yeah, I was surprised to say the least.”
WHAT'S GONE WRONG AT KTM
Miller defended his contribution to KTM, which he joined from the factory Ducati team last season, suggesting his current lack of results was due to the bike hitting a development ceiling.
“As I said to them, I didn’t come to this project to be in and out in two years,” Miller continued.
“I left probably the most competitive bike on the grid to come over here and try to bring my knowledge and I feel like last year what we were already able to bring to improve the bike to a certain level was a big addition.
“And then now we have hit a bit of a wall and that comes down to development and what we need to develop and where we need to go with the bike.
“There’s only so much bringing information from another manufacturer can take you forward.
“In the end parts need to come, development needs to happen.”
But he acknowledged his disappointment at his own contribution too.
Miller has only taken one grand prix podium at KTM and is only 16th in the current standings, while team-mate Binder is seventh and rookie Acosta is fifth in the championship on the GasGas-branded Tech3 bike.
“To say I’m satisfied or happy with how things have gone… I’m not, it’s not what I set out to do,” Miller admitted.
“I’m the first one that’s more disappointed than anybody.”
He added: “I felt let down by myself because I haven’t been able to achieve what I set out to at the beginning of the year. But that’s the way it goes sometimes and we will continue to work and we’ll be back.”
WHERE WILL MILLER GO?
Though four-time grand prix winner Miller said he’d be content with his achievements if his career “ended tomorrow”, he added he believes he’ll be able to find another spot on the MotoGP grid for 2025, and is prioritising that over looking at the potential for top World Superbike Championship seats.
“I feel like with the options we have on the table at the moment there’s a good spot for me in MotoGP already,” he said.
“I will be 30 next year. I still feel I’ve got more to give here in MotoGP.
“Despite not really getting along with the bike, we’re still consistently inside the top 10. We’ve been there with these guys and I feel like I still have the speed of these guys.
“Yes the ball is constantly moving and the bar is constantly being raised but I feel like I’m still stepping up to the plate and trying my best week in, week out.
“If we can get a competitive package or an interesting package… it’s just a matter of weighing up my options and what’s going to be best for me in my career.
“Fortunately enough for me, I haven’t burned any bridges here in the paddock so I can walk into the majority of teams and have a chat.”
He’s been linked to a return to the Ducati fold and a seat at Gresini, which needs a replacement for Marc Marquez.
“Obviously going to a Ducati is very, very interesting because I know the bike very well, I know the structure very well, I have no doubts that I could get back on that bike and be inside the top five almost instantly,” said Miller.
“But a lot of things are changing in MotoGP come ‘27 and working on a project and looking for a long-term home to finish out my last strong years in MotoGP and working towards a common goal, which I thought we had but we didn’t [at KTM], is one of those things that we need to weigh up.
“I have money in my account. I don’t have to worry about that. I’m very fortunate. So it’s not about money, it’s about what I want for my career and for myself personally.”
One alternative could be a return to Pramac, where he raced Ducatis from 2018-20 but which is now set to switch to Yamaha.
Taking on a test rider role doesn’t appeal.
“I don’t think of myself as a test rider,” said Miller.
“I couldn’t, I enjoy this too much, I enjoy racing.
“I don’t enjoy the testing side of it, I do it and I enjoy the work because you’re working towards a goal.
“But just going round and round in circles on a motorbike doesn’t interest me.
“Going out there and competing with 22 other bikes is what I do this for.
“Who knows in the future, but for the moment all I want to do is race my bike.”
FAREWELL FERNANDEZ TOO
KTM’s Bastianini/Vinales announcement also formally sealed Augusto Fernandez’s departure from its line-up - and probably MotoGP too.
That came as no surprise - least of all to Fernandez - given how he has struggled in his second season at Tech3 so far.
Asked what the official confirmation that he was losing his seat meant to him, Fernandez replied: “Well, I need to find another one. So I need those good results. We know that the time is now and these two races are important. Just keep pushing, nothing else to do.”
