Jack Miller’s Yamaha again behaved unpredictably at the Indonesian Grand Prix, leading him to describe it as almost “unrideable” for the second race in succession. At Mandalika, Miller crashed on lap five while running in 17th place.

The weekend had started with a more encouraging feeling. Miller said the bike felt reasonably good that morning, but its behaviour changed when he went out for the Sprint. Rather than blaming the tyres alone, he raised the possibility of a problem involving the engine, the fuel map or another system. Miller said the engine’s behaviour was inconsistent and that more work was needed to understand the reason.

Another setback for Pramac Yamaha

At the previous Grand Prix in Motegi, Miller had linked severe front-end reactions in traffic to starting tyre pressures that had been set too conservatively. The Indonesian weekend produced a different expression of the problem, while Miller still had no clear explanation for the source of the inconsistency.

Pramac Yamaha went without points for a fourth consecutive Grand Prix. Miller’s team-mate Toprak Razgatlioglu retired because of a recently dislocated shoulder, while Miller failed to finish after his crash. Team director Gino Borsoi said expectations had been high after Friday, but described both Toprak’s injury and Jack’s crash as setbacks for the team’s effort.

Borsoi said the team knows it is going through a difficult period, but has already shown that it can fight for points. He called for changes and greater precision in the work so both riders can turn that potential into results. Yamaha’s factory riders did score in Indonesia: Fabio Quartararo finished ninth and Alex Rins took 15th.