Motorcycling-Miller to ride for Pramac Racing next season on factory Yamaha bike (updated)
19/09/2024 16:17
(Adds Miller quotes, details in pars 4-7)
Sept 19 (Reuters) - Australian rider Jack Miller will
leave the Red Bull KTM team and return to Pramac Racing next
season, the MotoGP team announced on Thursday, effectively
confirming the grid for the 2025 season with all 22 riders now
announced.
Miller will join Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira on the
new-look team, which is switching from Ducati machines to Yamaha
after the 2024 season.
An experienced campaigner in the premier class, Miller
previously raced for Honda and Ducati before making the switch
to KTM in 2023. He also raced for Pramac Racing from 2018-2020.
"I feel like I still have some unfinished business here
and I wasn't ready to pack up my bat and ball and go home,"
Miller told reporters ahead of this weekend's Emilia Romagna
Grand Prix.
"I'm extremely grateful to Yamaha for this opportunity
and I really look forward to seeing what things are going to
happen in the future."
After finishing in the top five in the riders' standings
with the factory Ducati team in 2021 and 2022, Miller has
struggled with the KTM in the past two seasons, going without a
race win and finishing on the podium only once.
Meanwhile, MotoGP rookie Pedro Acosta has impressed in
KTM's satellite team, with the 20-year-old Spaniard -- sixth in
the standings this season -- getting promoted to the factory
team in 2025.
The Pramac Racing team, who were using Desmosedici GP24
bikes this season -- the same as the factory Ducati team -- will
have the factory 2025 YZR-M1 bike as well as full factory
support.
"With 10 years of experience in the MotoGP class with three
different manufacturers, Jack will be a valuable asset for
Yamaha," said Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor
Racing.
"His speed, knowledge, work ethic, and team spirit will be
invaluable to our project as we plan to improve the performance
of the M1 in 2025 and beyond. Yamaha will be supporting him in
every way they can."
Pramac Racing's current rider lineup are set to depart at
the end of the season with championship contender Jorge Martin
moving to Aprilia and Franco Morbidelli joining the VR46 Racing
team.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
((Rohith.Nair@thomsonreuters.com | Twitter: @RohithNair;))