MotoGP regular Jack Miller is a major talking point ahead of next week’s Suzuka 8 Hours, trading his usual duties with Prima Pramac Yamaha for an endurance challenge with the Yamaha Racing Team. Set to line up alongside four-time winner Katsuyuki Nakasuga and WorldSBK contender Andrea Locatelli, the Australian is gearing up for a rare appearance in the FIM Endurance World Championship. With the iconic race approaching, the 30-year-old detailed his preparation in this Five Questions feature.

Image: Supplied.

Jack, what does it mean to you to represent Yamaha during its 70th-anniversary year at such a prestigious event?

It’s obviously a massive honour for me to be able to represent Yamaha at the Suzuka 8 Hours. It’s a race I’ve been wanting to go back to since 2017, when I finished fourth, losing to Yamaha that time. It’s a big pleasure that I get to ride that Yamaha R1 motorcycle this time and represent the factory Yamaha Racing Team in Japan at such a prestigious race. Like I said, I’ve been dreaming of this race, and to have the opportunity to come back with such a strong team is a massive pleasure. I look forward to hopefully a good result for them at home and receiving some big support from the Japanese fans.

You had the opportunity to test the Yamaha Racing Team YZF-R1 at Suzuka earlier this month. How did it go?

It was nice to be back in Suzuka, especially with the R1 – it’s a lot of fun. The long run with [Locatelli] went well – I think we did a good job together. The pace is good, the speed is okay, and I think that during the race weekend, we will find a bit of extra margin when we need it, which is normal. Overall, working with the R1 feels good. I’m getting more and more comfortable with the Suzuka Circuit. It’s a long track, and there are many areas where you can make a mistake. Trying to put a perfect lap together is very difficult, so [the test] was about becoming comfortable with your marks and getting ready for the Suzuka 8 Hours.

For a rider, how physically demanding is an endurance race, and how do you prepare for it?

Endurance is a whole different kettle of fish compared to sprint racing, where you can kind of blow your lights out from the get-go. It’s all about pacing yourself, you’re kind of having to manage the riders around you because there’s a lot more traffic. Not only that, Suzuka, especially, it’s 37…38 degrees with about 90 percent humidity, excruciating heat. So, trying to do your best to battle that is one of the big keys. You’re sweating profusely, it just doesn’t stop. About three to four kilos throughout the race you end up losing, while trying to smash protein, trying to smash some carbs, and then also trying to get your mineral salts back in because cramping can be an absolute nightmare around that joint. It’s a tricky one. Over the duration of eight hours, a lot can happen, whether it’s with the weather and also finishing into the night. It creates an awesome atmosphere, though. At Suzuka, the Japanese fans are unbelievable, they come out in full force. To finish under the lights, I was lucky enough to do it last time and I think I should do it this time as well. You know, riding around seeing all the glowsticks with the different brand colours and stuff like that, it just creates a whole different atmosphere. We race at night in MotoGP, but it’s quite considerably different racing, the track isn’t lit like Qatar, where you can run a dark visor in the middle of the night. You’re there with the clear visor and basically riding on feel because you can’t see anything. When you open the gas, the headlights are in the air, and when you grab the brakes, the headlights are on the front wheel. But I’m looking forward to getting back there. It’s an awesome race and just an absolute pleasure to be a part of, especially with a team like the Yamaha team. The way that they put on the event, especially with the Top 10 Trial shootout and the way that they stagger everything out makes the build-up for the race all the more special. You know, they really make a big deal out of everything, so it’s awesome to go and do. Motorcycle racing is generally an individual sport, but to be able to work together with teammates is a lot of fun.

Image: Supplied.

Obviously, it can change during a race, but how do you approach an endurance race in terms of strategy and pit stops? How do you have to work things out?

I’m working a lot on pit stops and understanding fuel lights and so on and so forth. How we cannot muck that up? Basically, trying to understand the pit board and what we need to be seeing on the big light-up pit board is extremely important. The biggest thing is just trying not to get caught up in anything and not letting the extremely fast laps be too fast and not letting the extremely slow laps be too slow. It’s all about averaging it out and trying to be as consistent as possible, considering, like I said, there’s a lot of traffic. You’re dealing with up to 15 riders a lap sometimes, some laps more, some laps less. You’re slicing and dicing through the whole race. You’re just kind of trying to keep that average lap time to a reasonable number.

Do you think more MotoGP riders should give the Suzuka 8 Hours a go?

I think so. I think it should be back in the contract negotiations, for sure.