Jack Miller called for a more aggressive approach to starting tyre pressures after a difficult MotoGP race at Motegi, where his Yamaha M1 quickly lost usable performance. He started 20th and took the chequered flag in 19th, 1m 11.127s behind winner Marc Marquez. His race also included a crash on lap 19 of 24 before he returned to the circuit and completed the distance.

Miller said the pressure rose almost immediately and repeatedly locked the front wheel. The problem appeared as he fought Alex Rins, Toprak Razgatlioglu and Somkiat Chantra in the opening laps. Chantra passed him on the back straight and made the move again after Johann Zarco returned from a long-lap penalty. Miller could not attack consistently and said he was circulating around 1:45.0 while feeling extremely uncomfortable on the bike.

The contrast with the morning was significant. Miller was 14th fastest in warm-up, then used a front tyre that had already completed 15 laps in the Sprint. He said it allowed him to run consistently in the 1:44s, with a best lap of 1:44.1 on the final lap. In the race he could not reach the 1:44 range and felt that both ends of the Yamaha were affected by the pressure rise.

The crash came while Miller was at the back of the field and riding in the hot air behind the Yamahas ahead. Once he rejoined in clear air, the rear tyre worked better over the final five laps. Miller attributed that improvement to the tyre cooling and settling at a lower pressure. The change strengthened his view that the initial setup had left too little margin for the conditions.

Michelin’s reinforced hard rear tyre

Every rider used Michelin’s special reinforced hard rear tyre. It had been recommended after blistering affected the soft and medium options in Saturday’s Sprint, and no rider had tried it before Sunday. The compound had initially been avoided because it had historically delivered only moderate performance, but Miller said it worked far better than expected. He also said Pecco Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo reached a similarly positive view of the tyre after using it.

Miller sees a broader Yamaha problem behind the tyre issue. He said the M1 is losing a significant amount of power and needs a radical improvement in the way it transfers load into the rear tyre. Fabio Quartararo was Yamaha’s leading finisher at Motegi in 12th, while the other M1 riders finished outside the points. MotoGP’s next stop is Mandalika, where Michelin’s reinforced construction will be used across the entire rear-tyre allocation.