Australia’s Jack Miller delivered the ride of his life to dominate the Japanese MotoGP in a staggering victory.
Miller started seventh on his factory Ducati, but surged into the lead by the fourth lap – and quickly going on to leave his rivals in the dust at Motegi.
His lead blew out to over four seconds – despite the race being just 24 laps – before South Africa’s Brad Binder claimed a late overtake to finish second in front of Spain’s Jorge Martin.
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Miller sealed his faultless ride with a wheelie on the line, before a stand-up mono and burning some rubber as he celebrated his victory in parc ferme.
Miller joked: “I can ride a motorcycle sometimes!”
“What an amazing day. It’s awesome … Over the moon, can’t thank everybody enough.”
He added a shoey on the podium for good measure.
Miller’s fourth victory of his MotoGP career came at the first Japanese MotoGP since 2019.
After the Thailand MotoGP, he is set to be married in a couple of weeks in Australia, before the field takes to Phillip Island for the Australian Grand Prix next month.
It was an eventful day, with Francesco Bagnaia crashing out on the last lap as he attempted to overtake Fabio Quartararo – and only just missing Quartararo’s rear tyre.
Earlier, Japanese rider Takuya Tsuda saw his Suzuki explode in a wild fireball, though he managed to escape unharmed.
And before the race even started, Aleix Espargaro was sent into the pits with an electrical problem, but clawed his way to 16th. He had been set to start ahead of his title rivals in sixth, but leapt off his RS-GP and jumped right on to a spare bike.
The wild results meant Quartararo increased his world championship lead to 18 points despite a lowly eighth-place finish, with Miller rocketing up to fifth after his win.
