Typical of a rider who has continually defied the odds since he debuted in the world championship\u2019s premier class in 2015 after skipping the traditional Moto2 stepping stone altogether, the 31-year-old hasn\u2019t taken no for an answer. <\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779017096_680_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Miller fell on his feet with former team Pramac Racing<\/a> for its nascent alliance with Yamaha in 2025 after washing out at KTM as Spanish young gun Pedro Acosta took his seat, and was then re-signed for this season as Yamaha dramatically switched course to run a brand-new V4-engined machine<\/a> that played right into Miller\u2019s developmental strengths from his time racing V4-powered bikes at Honda, Ducati and KTM.<\/p>\n This time, though, Miller\u2019s MotoGP bell may have tolled. <\/p>\n MORE MOTOGP NEWS<\/p>\n \u2018BIG DISASTER\u2019 <\/a> Inside scary MotoGP reminder as chaos race exposes notorious blackspot<\/p>\n TALKING POINTS<\/a> Winner \u2018tried to hide myself\u2019 in terrifying crash, Aussie cops penalty after points<\/p>\n Reports emerging in the Spanish press over the recent Catalunya Grand Prix weekend had Moto2 rider Izan Guevara, already riding for Pramac in its intermediate-class team, stepping in beside Miller\u2019s teammate Toprak Razgatlioglu for 2027, with Yamaha\u2019s factory team changing its line-up completely to campaign 2024 world champion Jorge Martin and fast-rising sophomore Ai Ogura (both currently with Aprilia) for the first season of the 850cc regulation revolution. <\/p>\n Jorge Martin FUMING after crashing out | 00:13<\/p>\n The contracts of Martin and Ogura \u2013 and countless others on next year\u2019s grid \u2013 are believed to be agreed but not yet announced, MotoGP\u2019s teams under the umbrella of the MSMA (Motorcycle Sports Manufacturers\u2019 Association) remaining in negotiations with the sport\u2019s promoters MSEG (MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group, formerly known as Dorna) to agree a deal to run the series from 2027-31, seeking a slice of a theoretically larger revenue pie as Liberty Media\u2019s ownership of the two-wheel series could take MotoGP where it has taken Formula 1. <\/p>\n That\u2019s an unknown agreement for an undefined time, but what\u2019s easier to ascertain is Yamaha\u2019s place in the MotoGP pecking order, and Miller\u2019s contribution to where a manufacturer who won the title as recently as 2022 now finds itself. <\/p>\n After six rounds of 2026, Yamaha sits dead-last of the five manufacturers in MotoGP in the constructors\u2019 championship, and its two teams are ninth and 11th in the 11-deep team standings. <\/p>\n Of the five riders Yamaha has entered into races this year, Miller (23rd in the standings with two points) has contributed the least to the meagre tally accumulated by the grid\u2019s slowest bike. Rookie teammate Razgatlioglu (22nd, 4pts) has barely fared better, while test rider Augusto Fernandez (21st, 4pts) has scored more in two rounds than Miller has in six. <\/p>\n Factory rider Alex Rins \u2013 already told he\u2019s not being retained for 2027 \u2013 has nine points to sit 19th, while 2022 MotoGP champion Fabio Quartararo has been Yamaha\u2019s only shining light, the Frenchman managing 37 points and a season-best fifth in last Sunday\u2019s Catalan GP to sit 13th in the standings ahead of his reported, but unconfirmed, switch to Honda next year.<\/p>\n Does Miller\u2019s points contribution, added to the rule changes set for 2027 that will have rookies on a more level playing field than normal with everything being new for everyone, outweigh his developmental contribution behind the scenes as Yamaha attempts to bridge the gap from doormat to decent? <\/p>\n If the Guevara news is to be believed \u2013 and paddock speculation has swirled that Miller was told at the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez in late April that he was surplus to requirements at Yamaha for next year \u2013 what happens next? <\/p>\n Is there space on the grid elsewhere for 2027? <\/p>\n Might Miller have to leave MotoGP and head to World Superbikes if he wants to continue racing rather than accept a test rider role? <\/p>\n And might the first visit of the Australian Grand Prix to Adelaide in 2027<\/a> go ahead without a local rider on the grid, a prospect that would be unpalatable to the sport\u2019s promoters after moving the Australian round of the series away from the much-loved Phillip Island?<\/p>\n These are the five questions that need answering if the end of Miller\u2019s time at Yamaha has more wide-reaching consequences.<\/p>\n Miller finished in the points for just the second time all season in Barcelona on Sunday. (Photo by Mirco Lazzari gp\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n WHAT DO WE KNOW?<\/p>\n Reports emerging from well-connected es.motorsport.com reporter German Garcia Casanova over last weekend\u2019s event in Barcelona indicated Pramac will announce a 2027 MotoGP promotion for Guevara, who they already have under contract for next year, before the mid-season break in the calendar scheduled after the German Grand Prix in early July, round 11 of the 22-round season. <\/p>\n Guevara impressed Pramac management with a one-day MotoGP test at Valencia after the Spaniard won the final Moto2 round of the season at the same track, and the 21-year-old has kicked on this year, sitting second in the standings after six rounds with 86 points. <\/p>\n With MotoGP switching from 1000cc machines with a heavy reliance on ride-height devices, aerodynamics and rider aids while running on Michelin tyres to far simpler bikes with less power and on Pirelli rubber currently used by Moto2, 2027 is being seen as a good time to blood a newcomer into the series, with Guevara\u2019s Moto2 rivals David Alonso (to Honda) and Dani Holgado (to Ducati) likely, if yet unconfirmed, to be stepping up. <\/p>\n Guevara has been seen as a MotoGP prospect ever since he won the 2022 Moto3 title as an 18-year-old, and won the French Grand Prix earlier this month as part of a run of four podium finishes in six starts. <\/p>\n \u201cYamaha\u2019s rider line-up for 2027 will only see Razgatlioglu retained, with three new riders coming in: Guevara at Pramac and Jorge Martin and Ai Ogura at the factory Yamaha squad, completing an overhaul led by Paolo Pavesio, Yamaha\u2019s managing director,\u201d the es.motorsport.com report read. <\/p>\n Guevara has been a consistent presence on the Moto2 podium across six rounds this year. (Photo by Lluis GENE \/ AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n WHAT HAS MILLER SAID?<\/p>\n Miller has cut an increasingly frustrated figure as 2026 has progressed, doing his best to stay positive about the progress of an engine project he has repeatedly reminded media is \u201csix months old\u201d, but lamenting Yamaha\u2019s absence of straight-line grunt relative to its rivals. <\/p>\n MORE MOTOGP NEWS<\/p>\n RACE REPORT<\/a> Italian snaps drought after massive crashes cause red flags in Catalunya<\/p>\n CATALUNYA SPRINT <\/a> Spaniard wins closest-ever MotoGP sprint as title teammates squander points<\/p>\n At several tracks this season, notably the Circuit of the Americas in Texas and last weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, any ground Miller \u2013 and any other Yamaha rider not named Quartararo \u2013 can make up over one lap in qualifying or with some clever overtaking in the madcap opening laps can disappear in an instant; in Barcelona last weekend, the Yamahas were routinely 10km\/h or more slower than every other bike down the 1km-plus start-finish straight, a limitation of the machinery that has little to do with who is riding it. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s frustrating, for sure. You work your arse off all week, all off-season, you have some goals set in your mind, and then you understand that it\u2019s difficult to achieve them,\u201d Miller said at Jerez. <\/p>\n \u201cBut what are you going to do, go home? No. It\u2019s the only option we\u2019ve got, so we keep working at it. If you put in the hard work, I believe things will turn around eventually.\u201d <\/p>\n Last weekend in Barcelona, on the day the Guevara news broke, Miller was asked if he knew anything about his future. <\/p>\n \u201cIn Yamaha, no,\u201d he began, pointedly. <\/p>\n \u201cBut [I\u2019m] obviously talking with other people. I know the value I bring to a project, I know what I\u2019m capable of doing on a motorcycle, so if that\u2019s what [Yamaha] want to do, that\u2019s not my decision to make. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve put my best foot forward this year, trying to do the maximum that I can throughout testing until now. I\u2019ll continue to do so until the end, wherever that goes will be well and truly out of my hands. I\u2019ll do what I can do on a motorcycle.\u201d <\/p>\n Miller has become increasingly frustrated with his results as Yamaha\u2019s straight-line speed deficit bites. (Photo by Mirco Lazzari gp\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n WHAT OTHER MOTOGP OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE?<\/p>\n Officially, plenty given only five current riders \u2013 Johann Zarco and Diogo Moreira at Honda, Razgatlioglu at Yamaha, Fermin Aldeguer at Ducati and championship leader Marco Bezzecchi at Aprilia \u2013 have confirmed contracts for next year. <\/p>\n Reality and the rumour mill \u2013 Quartararo\u2019s mooted move to Honda was revealed as far back as January \u2013 would suggest otherwise, and the number of riders set to switch to new teams swelled in Barcelona when news emerged that 2020 world champion Joan Mir will move from Honda to Ducati next year.<\/p>\n Ducati, which fields six bikes, will employ an explosive all-Spanish line-up at its factory team for next year with Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta once both contracts are announced, while Mir is set to slot in at Gresini Ducati in an all-new pairing with compatriot and Moto2 graduate Holgado. <\/p>\n VR46, the team run by Valentino Rossi, will acquire Ducati factory-contracted Aldeguer from Gresini, with a stated preference for an Italian teammate to the second-year Spaniard likely to come from current Honda rider (and Rossi\u2019s step-brother) Luca Marini, or runaway World Superbikes series leader Nicolo Bulega. <\/p>\n Aprilia will bring current Ducati rider and two-time MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia in to partner the confirmed Bezzecchi, while satellite team Trackhouse Aprilia, with team principal Davide Brivio leaving at the end of the year to join Honda, remains unknown, with current rider Raul Fernandez unsigned anywhere for 2027.<\/p>\n Honda will continue with the Zarco\/Moreira line-up in its satellite LCR team and run Quartararo and Moto2\u2019s Alonso in the factory team, while Yamaha\u2019s stable will, as mentioned earlier, feature Martin and Ogura in its factory team, and Razgatlioglu with Guevara at Pramac.<\/p>\n Six-time Grand Prix winner Rins looks set to miss out on a seat for 2027. (Photo by JOSE JORDAN \/ AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n KTM \u2013 which will continue to run four bikes next year after Guenther Steiner\u2019s Tech3 team announced over the Catalunya weekend that it would stick with the Austrian manufacturer \u2013 is set for a clean-out at its factory team, with last weekend\u2019s Grand Prix winner Fabio Di Giannantonio<\/a> joining fellow current Ducati rider Alex Marquez for 2027.<\/p>\n Tech3, which fields Maverick Vinales and Enea Bastianini this season, has no riders signed for 2027.<\/p>\n Slots for Miller to fill, therefore, are few, and it\u2019s hard to imagine the Australian returning to KTM next year after his time there petered out as recently as 2024. Yamaha and Honda appear full, and both Aprilia and Ducati have plenty of alternatives to fill a maximum of three seats. <\/p>\n As well as Vinales and Bastianini, fellow veterans Rins, Ducati\u2019s Franco Morbidelli and KTM stalwart Brad Binder are without confirmed rides for 2027, while Marini \u2013 like Miller, an astute technical mind \u2013 will be in demand should he not land a place at VR46. <\/p>\n The depth of riders who could be on the outer \u2013 every one of those names mentioned above has won a premier-class Grand Prix besides Marini \u2013 illustrates the uphill battle Miller faces. <\/p>\n WILL MILLER STILL RACE?<\/p>\n Would a MotoGP test rider role satisfy Miller as he progresses towards his mid-30s, following a path trodden by former full-timers Dani Pedrosa (KTM), Alex Espargaro (Honda), Pol Espargaro (KTM) and Takaaki Nakagami (Honda) in recent years?<\/p>\n As recently as the Le Mans round in early May, he wasn\u2019t prepared to accept sitting out. Asked a direct question about his future once his current Yamaha deal expires at the end of 2026, Miller\u2019s answer was emphatic. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not focusing on that,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just trying to do better, ride better, training harder than ever. I\u2019m sick and f**king tired of being at the back, it\u2019s really driving me insane. I\u2019m putting everything I have into this, and trying to give the maximum back to Yamaha and take the maximum out of it for myself.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to race. I don\u2019t mind the testing side of things, but I do that for the light at the end of the tunnel, which is going racing. At the end of the day, I enjoy racing motorcycles.\u201d<\/p>\n With the game of MotoGP musical chairs reaching its conclusion, Miller\u2019s determination to continue racing might necessitate a shift. <\/p>\n Should VR46 sign Bulega, for example, a prime World Superbikes ride with a dominant Ducati manufacturer \u2013 Bulega has won 15 straight races this season as he romps to a near-certain title \u2013 would be a logical landing place for Miller, who has retained strong ties with Ducati after riding for the Italian manufacturer in MotoGP from 2018-22. <\/p>\n Other Superbike teams would be lining up for a rider who comes with a profile, pedigree and a fan base the production-bike series could undoubtedly benefit from. <\/p>\n Miller’s showmanship would be a huge asset for World Superbikes should his MotoGP days come to a close (Pramac Racing Ltd)Source: Supplied<\/p>\n It\u2019s not Miller\u2019s preferred route despite his enjoyment of the series, but it\u2019s one he may need to explore more seriously than last year, when he confirmed upon re-signing for Pramac for 2026 that a future outside MotoGP had been a consideration. <\/p>\n \u201c[I had offers for] very competitive machinery in other championships,\u201d he said in Barcelona last September. <\/p>\n \u201cI love Superbikes, I thoroughly enjoy watching Superbikes, but it\u2019s not a MotoGP bike. It doesn\u2019t go as fast, stop as good, you can\u2019t even begin to list the things a MotoGP bike does because you\u2019ll be here all day. There\u2019s something about riding these monsters against these lunatics that I enjoy.\u201d <\/p>\n WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN FOR SENNA AGIUS?<\/p>\n Ever since the advent of the MotoGP era in 2002, there\u2019s been at least one Australian rider on the grid every year. <\/p>\n