Jack Miller<\/a> said.<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019ve 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
The four-time MotoGP race winner pinpointed managing traffic, night riding, pit stop strategy and the intense physical demands as among the key challenges he will face this weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cSlicing and dicing\u201d through traffic<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving the experience of being there once, you know what to prepare for: a lot of traffic, a lot of slicing and dicing,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou’re dealing with up to 15 riders a lap sometimes – some laps more, some less. You’re slicing and dicing through the whole race. You\u2019re just trying to keep that average lap time to a reasonable number.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miller said he quickly shook off the rust after returning to the legendary Japanese circuit, where Yamaha had rented the track for an uninterrupted two-day test.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a pretty focused test. No disturbances, we could really focus on what we needed to get done\u2014which was get comfortable with the R1,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always different working with guys rather than working against guys. It was really cool to share the box with Andrea and Nakasuga as well. I think we\u2019re in good shape.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Jack](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/unnamed_0.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Jack Miller, Suzuka 8 Hours testing<\/p>\n
Racing by feel in the dark<\/p>\n
While MotoGP holds its annual Qatar night race, Miller warned that Suzuka\u2019s night-time finish offers a very different experience due to limited track lighting and headlight visibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you open the gas, the headlights are in the air. When you grab the brakes, the headlights are on the front wheel,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re basically riding on feel because you can\u2019t see anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, Miller relishes the unique atmosphere of the 8 Hours: \u201cTo finish under the lights\u2026 riding around seeing all the glowsticks with different brand colours – it just creates a whole different atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Physical toll and team strategy<\/p>\n
The Queenslander admitted the heat and humidity in Japan add an extra layer of difficulty, with riders typically losing several kilos during the race.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuzuka, especially, it\u2019s 37\u201338 degrees with about 90 per cent humidity, excruciating heat,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re sweating profusely. You try to smash protein, carbs, and get your mineral salts back in because cramping can be a nightmare. It\u2019s a tricky one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miller also highlighted the need for discipline and teamwork, with riders balancing pace, tyre wear, fuel strategy, and pit board communication.<\/p>\n
\u201cEndurance is a whole different kettle of fish compared to sprint racing. It\u2019s all about pacing yourself and managing the riders around you. I\u2019m working a lot on pit stops and understanding fuel lights, and what we need to be seeing on the big light-up pit board. It\u2019s extremely important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Should more MotoGP riders do it?<\/p>\n
Miller hopes to see more current MotoGP riders take on the legendary event.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think so,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it should be back in the contract negotiations, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Subscribe to our MotoGP Newsletter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jack Miller says he’s ready to slice and dice as he returns to the Suzuka 8 Hours this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27060,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,3555,15612,806,805,803,804,85,26300,3561],"class_list":{"0":"post-27059","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-motosport","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-jack-miller","11":"tag-johann-zarco","12":"tag-motor","13":"tag-motor-sports","14":"tag-motosport","15":"tag-motosports","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-suzuka-circuit","18":"tag-yamaha"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}