Say it once, for the bikes used by the 3 riders who finished on the podium at last weekend’s German Grand Prix. Then repeat it five more times, for the bikes used on the 3 podiums in the five races in Spain, France, Catalonia, Italy and the Netherlands that preceded the annual MotoGP round at the Sachsenring.
With 8 bikes on the grid compared to the 4 (or, in the case of Yamaha, two) of its rival manufacturers, Ducati has the statistical probability of getting on the podium in MotoGP. But it’s not just a matter of numerical strength for the fastest bike in the championship. More machines and more speed mean Ducati only has an intermittent festival as it dominates the world championship for the second year in a row.
All MotoGP qualifying, practice and races live and without advertising, from the lights to the chequered flag. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today>
What – or who – could be the antidote to this imbalance? He may simply rest on the narrow shoulders of a cyclist just seven weeks into his teenage years.
Pedro Acosta’s rookie season at the wheel of a KTM RC16 for the Austrian marque’s second-division Tech3 GasGas team was so smart at the start that the Spanish was considered the most productive rookie since Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa, i. e. the most productive.
And the effects of Acosta have receded slightly since then, as a result of Ducati’s relentless attacks, the most productive possibility for KTM to leave the group and become Ducati’s main challenge in the long term is to integrate its most productive rider into its factory team in Jack Miller’s position.
Not year, as planned. Immediately.
MORE MOTOGP NEWS
RIDER CLASSIFICATION The 10 best MotoGP riders of the first part of 2024
NEW TEAM, NEW HOPE? Miller’s lifeline in the left area after Pramac abandoned Ducati
This is the opinion of Simon Patterson, one of the top figures in the foreign MotoGP press; As difficult as it is to get rid of Miller with part of 2024 remaining, Patterson believes KTM getting off to a smart start in its quest in 2025 to topple Ducati from its throne of dominance can only be beneficial. Acosta is very intelligent.
Since Miller said he would be replaced by Acosta for 2025 at the Italian Grand Prix, and was snubbed by Enea Bastianini and Maverick Viñales at Tech3 shortly after, he has already been publicly ruled out as surplus to requirements. wishes of the two teams led by KTM. Why, Patterson argues, delay the inevitable and give yourself a steeper mountain to climb next season?
“To me, that’s what fundamentally matters: this guy [Acosta] has the potential to be a contender for the name next year, so you give him any and all credit to try and get there as soon as possible. “he said.
“It doesn’t charge you anything to do it, why not?” What explanation imaginable for why not do this, other than maybe it will make you look bad if you move Jack? But he is KTM, and they have a long history of bad image. . .
“I don’t see any explanation why you would continue with Project Jack, knowing that it is finished and knowing that it has not achieved what it intended to achieve, and knowing that Acosta is there, in a position to approve it and may simply get advantages from [factory] team learning and learning development.
“He’s so fast, but at the same time he’s so young that he hasn’t done it yet. He might do it this year, without having to spend the first part of 2025 thinking about it. “
CONTRACT CASES AND EXCHANGE STATISTICS
Given Acosta’s stellar resume of junior elegance, and the fact that Miller’s teammate Brad Binder was already locked in until the end of 2026 via KTM last season, the Aussie was still waging a wasted war of moves ahead to keep his seat for next year; the image of Acosta battling with Marquez for fourth position on his debut at the Qatar Grand Prix in March while Miller crawled backwards after a crash was the worst first impression imaginable, and ‘Acosta’s inevitable promotion for 2025 was announced at Mugello in June.
Given KTM’s longstanding penchant for avoiding sentimentality when it comes to its rider lineup, the fact that the Acosta/Miller change hasn’t happened yet is surprising. KTM’s motorsport director Pit Beirer was asked about the option of a switch between the GasGas factory and KTM. groups already on Circular 3 in Austin, but they shot down the story, while also revealing the ability to do so.
“Pedro’s feats are absolutely outstanding, but no, it is not an option for us,” Beirer told German magazine Motorsport Magazin.
“Our four riders in MotoGP have factory contracts, so you are not tied to an express team. From a contractual point of view, there is no impediment to converting anything. It is still absolutely absurd to think about adjustments of this type throughout it’s from the season.
At least statistically, there are each and every one of the explanations for doing a mid-season replacement despite Beirer’s refusal. Miller may have repeated his 11th place finish in last year’s championship and it probably wouldn’t have been enough, but he also didn’t do himself any favors with his worst season since 2016.
Considering Miller has more MotoGP seasons (10) than Acosta’s Grands Prix (nine) on his resume, 2024 is a brutal set of statistics.
Acosta v. Miller, 2024
Points: Acosta (6th in the World Championship), Miller 35 (16th)
Points in sprints: Acosta 38, Miller 13
Grand Prix Points: Acosta 72, Miller 22
Best result in a sprint: Acosta 2d (Spain), Miller (Portugal)
Best result in Grand Prix: Acosta 2d (Americas), Miller (Portugal)
Qualifying head-to-head: Acosta 8, Miller 1
Head-to-head race: Acosta 7, Miller 2
Grand Prix Head-to-Head: Acosta 5, Miller 0
Acosta’s Grand Prix lead: 31. 166 seconds (Qatar), 11. 075 seconds (Portugal), 22. 283 seconds (America), 20. 916 seconds (Italy), 10. 679 seconds (Germany)
(Miller crashed and didn’t end up in Spain, France and Catalonia; Acosta did the same in Holland)
THE SWITCH COULD HURT, BUT HELP MILLER’S CAUSE
Could letting Miller spend his time at KTM where he is, while keeping Acosta in line at GasGas, cause tension over the final 11 Grand Prix weekends as Miller reports to work for an employer who doesn’t need him? In fact, this is already the case.
After Beirer and KTM took advantage of the chaos in the rider market caused by Marquez to attack and recruit Ducati’s Bastianini and Aprilia’s Viñales for Tech3, a three-week break between Italy and the Netherlands, Beirer oddly praised Miller’s role in making the RC16 a better bike ever since. The 29-year-old left Ducati at the end of 2022. . . a press call explaining why he was fired.
“Jack, his team leader [Christian Pupulin] and then the team did with the bike something we’ve never done before,” Beirer admitted.
“At the beginning of last year they broadened KTM’s prospects. They showed us new things that we didn’t need to go through with the KTM before, so it made us better. But already last year, in the second part of the season, Brad [Binder] was able to get a lot more advantage out of what Jack did to the bike than Jack himself. Jack started having disorders last year and we never got over it.
“Jack has taken a step forward with our motorcycle and it looks like he could be the last one to benefit from it at the moment. “
MORE MOTOGP COVERAGE
TALKING POINTS FROM THE GERMAN GP The champion’s patience will pay off, the Márquez brothers make history
“HE SEES YOU BLEEDING, DIE HARDER” Legendary warning with champions on a collision course
Miller, in his first public comments at Assen a few weeks after the Tech3 door closed, claimed that he had been caught off guard and that the Austrian factory had broken its word.
“Last time I heard it, ‘don’t bother talking to anyone, we should keep you in the family,'” Miller said.
“And then you get a phone call 3 hours before [Bastianini and Viñales’] press release comes out saying ‘you won’t get a contract’. So I’m surprised to say the least, but that’s the way it is.
“Until [the last race in] Valencia, I will continue. . . I am a professional and we get paid to do this job, so I will continue to be a professional until I leave, like I did at Ducati, like I did at Honda. We will continue to strive until the end.
“It’s about gaining knowledge, enjoying yourself and getting on the bike, and that’s where I felt we were going. The management had another plan, so it’s up to them.
Patterson believes Miller would likely gain advantages from a mid-season trade, giving him 11 Grand Prix weekends to do his thing and extend his tenure in MotoGP for an 11th season.
“I don’t think Jack would mind if they made the transfer; on the contrary, it would take some of the tension out of it,” he says.
“I don’t see any explanation as to why KTM wouldn’t do it, but there hasn’t been any noise they’re going to make so far either.
“The only explanation I can think of has something to do with the fact that they’re looking to keep [Tech3 GasGas team principal Hervé] Poncharal soft. They don’t, right now, because they’re looking to be cool with Jack.