Jack Miller has spoken about his move into the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship with Yamaha for 2027 for the first time. The Australian star will link up with Pata Maxus Yamaha for the next two seasons after racing for the Japanese manufacturer in MotoGP in 2025 and 2026.
“I’M EXTREMELY EXCITED TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT YEAR”
Miller was announced as riding alongside Andrea Locatelli earlier this week as he makes the step from MotoGP to WorldSBK, but remaining within the Yamaha family after two years racing for Pramac Racing Yamaha. Miller has been involved in the development of the M1 V4 package, introduced for this season and sits 19th in the standings; he is the second-highest Yamaha rider in this year’s Riders’ Championship.
On his move to WorldSBK for next year, the 31-year-old said ahead of this weekend’s San Marino Grand Prix at Misano: “I’m over the moon and keen to get over there to see what we can do. At the same time, it’s a weird time because I’ve got so many more races in front of me that I can’t get too far ahead of myself and start thinking too far ahead as I’ll get lost. I’m focused on the here and now, but at the same time, I’m extremely excited to see what happens next year. It’ll be a busy winter, swapping over and everything being new. Continuing that relationship with Yamaha is nice. I’m comfortable with it and extremely excited to see what the future holds in our story together.”
He also explained how having a good relationship with Yamaha was ‘everything’ when deciding his next steps: “It was everything. Working along with the brand, we’ve got a great relationship. Results haven’t been the best in the last couple of years, we’ve been busting our butts trying to improve things, but these things take time. Unfortunately, time is one of these things where you don’t always have a lot of. We’ve been very professional. We enjoy working with each other a lot. It makes it easy in a way, because you’re working with so many familiar people, but at the same time the WorldSBK side is run by Niccolo (Canepa, Yamaha Motor Europe Road Racing Manager) and those guys. It’s been an extension of the family, working with a different branch. The biggest thing for me in this industry is aligning yourself with brands and being able to build those long-term partnerships. I’ve found a home here at Yamaha and I feel respected and valued, as an integral part of the process. I feel like they feel the same way and some other different opportunities that’ll come out of it.”
“IT’S GOING TO SHAKE THINGS UP A LITTLE BIT”
Miller will head into his rookie campaign with some knowledge of the Yamaha R1 machine, having ridden it at Suzuka in the past two seasons and finished second both times. He also knows Locatelli from that experience with the pair racing alongside each other. The Townsville-born rider will also race once again with Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and his 2027 teammate, Brad Binder, who makes the move to WorldSBK next season.
On his experience with the R1, Miller said: “I’ve never been one to shy away from racing whatever it is, it’s no secret. I’ve got a little bit of experience with the R1, whether it’s riding around my own one, track days and stuff like that, or the Suzuka 8 Hours. The initial feeling of the bike, the DNA’s, going to be there. I enjoy it. Making the switch this year, with the new tyres coming in, it’s going to shake things up a little bit. Having some other guys like Brad coming in with us, I think that’ll things pretty cool. With me, Brad and Miguel, a belief that we can go back to fighting like in Moto3, they’re the guys I’ve been racing for a very long time.”
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