After months of uncertainty that only recently eased, it has finally been confirmed that Jack Miller will remain with Pramac Yamaha for the 2026 MotoGP season.
The decision adds stability to Yamaha’s long-term MotoGP plans amid the imminent introduction of its new V4 bike - but comes at the expense of Miller’s current team-mate Miguel Oliveira as he loses out to rookie signing Toprak Razgatlioglu.
The news was finally confirmed ahead of this weekend’s Catalan Grand Prix, and will come as welcome relief to Miller, who had become increasingly irate at his situation and in recent weeks hadn’t been shy about airing his frustration at Yamaha and its lack of progress on announcing its second rider.
"This year has been an amazing return to Pramac Racing," said Miller, who ride for the team in its Ducati era from 2018-20.
"I'm looking forward to working hard with Yamaha to help developing the bike and closing the gap to the other manufacturers. I believe the best is still to come."
The delay to Miller's deal came in large part as Yamaha tried to negotiate a second rookie signing for Pramac, talking with Moto2 stars Diogo Moreira (who has instead elected to take a Honda seat at LCR) and current championship leader Manu Gonzalez, who impressed earlier this year during a brief MotoGP outing testing for Trackhouse Aprilia.
However with that all-rookie plan abandoned and Miller finally re-signed, it’s hard to argue that Yamaha has made the wrong call, given what’s currently going on within its MotoGP project.
It’s set to introduce an all-new version of the M1 machine at next weekend’s San Marino Grand Prix, where test rider Augusto Fernandez will wildcard onboard Yamaha’s first ever V4-configured modern MotoGP engine. It marks a huge direction change for the factory ahead of the introduction of a new MotoGP ruleset in 2027.
And while there’s certainly merit in prioritising young talent ahead of the end of most riders’ contracts at the end of next season, there’s more logic behind wanting to keep 30-year-old Miller onboard for the initial V4 development programme given his experience not just in MotoGP in general but with that engine configuration specifically.
Miller comes from a MotoGP background that, up until his arrival at Pramac Yamaha at the start of 2025, has exclusively been on V4 bikes. Riding first a Honda, then a Ducati and finally KTM before moving to Yamaha, that experience combined with his reputation as a solid development rider means he’s the right fit for the factory at the minute.
His V4 experience is in contrast to the rest of the Yamaha line-up too, with only factory racer Alex Rins having half a season onboard a Honda as V4 experience, while 2022 world champion Fabio Quartararo has never ridden anything but the current generation of inline-four Yamaha during his years in the premier class.
What's now on the cards for Oliveira is less clear - but it seems that the Portuguese racer has multiple options in both the MotoGP and World Superbike paddocks.
Lead among those is an offer to rejoin Aprilia (where he was a Trackhouse racer last year) as its factory test rider, but should he (as he's expressed recently) want to remain racing, then there are opportunities to join both Honda and BMW in World Superbikes.
