Latest / Pit Talk / Exclusive! Jack Miller Previews the Japanese GP: MotoGP Pit Talk

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Exclusive! Jack Miller Previews the Japanese GP: MotoGP Pit Talk · Pit Talk

0:00
Speaker 1: Motor Gipi heads to the iconic Motegi twin Ring circuit
0:04
Speaker 1: and it's all set to be a thrilling weekend. Known
0:07
Speaker 1: for its unique mix of high speed straights and tight
0:10
Speaker 1: technical corners, Mategi always delivers intense racing action and with
0:15
Speaker 1: the championship battle heating up and the weather is always
0:18
Speaker 1: such an unknown here, this round could be a game changer.
0:22
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Rindita Vanmullen, and today we welcome the
0:24
Speaker 1: sense of Motor GP knowledge, a man who slices through
0:28
Speaker 1: stats like a samurai with the katana. Matt Clayton, Matt,
0:32
Speaker 1: I guess the question that everybody's thinking coming into this
0:35
Speaker 1: weekend is Jorge Martin going to continue his run and
0:38
Speaker 1: have a replay from last year? We're taking that double
0:41
Speaker 1: victory in Japan.
0:43
Speaker 2: Yes, Ronanda, that is the question I guess after last year.
0:46
Speaker 2: The other question, I think you mentioned it in the
0:48
Speaker 2: intro there is the pertinent one is that Earth's going
0:50
Speaker 2: to happen at the weather at this Grand Prix, because
0:52
Speaker 2: we see it happen year after year. It's such a
0:55
Speaker 2: remote location, Motigi. It's out kind of in the middle
0:57
Speaker 2: of nowhere, so the weather can roll in super fast,
1:00
Speaker 2: and we remember last year the rider's parade was held
1:03
Speaker 2: completely in the dry and then we got twelve laps
1:05
Speaker 2: into the race and you needed a boat more than
1:07
Speaker 2: you needed to murder GP bike, and that was the
1:09
Speaker 2: correct decision to red flag it. So yeah, it looks
1:12
Speaker 2: super interesting race weekend because this is such an unusual
1:17
Speaker 2: circuit and for those of you playing Bingo at home,
1:20
Speaker 2: it won't take you long to feel like your Bingo
1:21
Speaker 2: card with stop and Go, because you'll hear every single
1:25
Speaker 2: team manager and writer say that about the nature of
1:27
Speaker 2: this track because it's predominantly long straights into hairpins, and
1:33
Speaker 2: you know the teams will have to install break specific
1:37
Speaker 2: only to this round at this track because it is
1:39
Speaker 2: such an unusual track that breaking forces are so so harsh.
1:42
Speaker 2: So definitely a bit of an outlier in terms of
1:44
Speaker 2: track layer, it's an outlier in terms of potential weather.
1:47
Speaker 2: And look where the championships finally poised as this one is.
1:52
Speaker 2: I think things always happen in Japan, and I just
1:54
Speaker 2: get the sense this could be one of those Sunday
1:56
Speaker 2: afternoons for us where we're like, oh, this was a
1:59
Speaker 2: significant moment the championship because there's always action at this track.
2:02
Speaker 2: I don't expect this year to be any exception.
2:05
Speaker 1: I had a little look at the weather before we
2:07
Speaker 1: jumped on here, and it looks like at this stage
2:09
Speaker 1: and this was on weather dot Com, so could be
2:11
Speaker 1: completely wrong on a different website, but it's saying that
2:14
Speaker 1: there's a seventy percent chance of rain on Saturday and
2:18
Speaker 1: Sundays looking like nineteen percent chance of rain. But honestly
2:21
Speaker 1: that could change tomorrow. So who knows. There's something about
2:24
Speaker 1: a typhoon like there as well, So it's Japan.
2:27
Speaker 2: We just don't know, right, there's always this time of year.
2:31
Speaker 2: I would often do because Formula one used to be
2:33
Speaker 2: at this time of year as well, so I'd often
2:35
Speaker 2: be up there for a little while with these events.
2:36
Speaker 2: And yeah, you're not living in Japan in October unless
2:40
Speaker 2: you've been up in a plane after a typhoon has
2:42
Speaker 2: just gone through. That'll get your attention. But yeah, that's
2:45
Speaker 2: super interesting about the rain potentially being on Saturday, because
2:47
Speaker 2: of course that could shake up the grid on Saturday
2:51
Speaker 2: morning for what happens on Saturday afternoon in the sprint
2:53
Speaker 2: and Sunday in the race. So wouldn't that be another
2:56
Speaker 2: curve ball to throw into proceedings a really junked up grid,
3:00
Speaker 2: and then if you're having one race in semi wet
3:01
Speaker 2: and one race in the dry, then we could get
3:03
Speaker 2: a particularly interesting couple of days, couldn't we.
3:05
Speaker 1: Well, someone who's been struggling in the Q two and
3:08
Speaker 1: qualifying is Mark Marquez, and this is a track that
3:11
Speaker 1: he is fairly strong at ten podiums across all classes.
3:15
Speaker 1: If we do get a wet qualifying, who knows, maybe
3:17
Speaker 1: he might not crash out of Q two and actually
3:19
Speaker 1: get somewhere at the front of the grid. But do
3:21
Speaker 1: you think that this weekend he could be battling for
3:23
Speaker 1: a podium compared to the GP twenty fours.
3:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, I think it's a track where he's had
3:28
Speaker 2: great success in the past. A couple of his World
3:30
Speaker 2: Championships were cemented here. I think the strange thing for
3:33
Speaker 2: all of us is to see Marquez at Motigui, not
3:36
Speaker 2: being on a Honda. That's being Japan and their home track.
3:39
Speaker 2: It's going to be really strange to see him on
3:41
Speaker 2: a Decati, even though we're now used to him being
3:43
Speaker 2: on that blue bike. But you mentioned it before, he
3:46
Speaker 2: has had some decent results of like from qualifying positions
3:50
Speaker 2: that he probably shouldn't be in because he keeps throwing
3:52
Speaker 2: it down the road in Q two. I mean it's
3:54
Speaker 2: three grand parin a row now. So he got away
3:57
Speaker 2: with it to an extent in the sprint in Indonesia
4:00
Speaker 2: because he made such an incredible start, amazing first corner
4:02
Speaker 2: there to get on the podium. But he just needs
4:05
Speaker 2: to be there and thereabouts. We know there there is
4:08
Speaker 2: a performance difference between the GP twenty four and the
4:11
Speaker 2: GP twenty three, but I think he needs to be
4:14
Speaker 2: This is a top two rows of the grid. I'd
4:16
Speaker 2: be surprised if he got on the front row unless
4:18
Speaker 2: it was sketchy in qualifying and then all bets are off.
4:20
Speaker 2: He's one of the guys you would put your money on.
4:22
Speaker 2: But if there's going to be a podium at this
4:25
Speaker 2: track this weekend, and I mentioned before about the nature
4:28
Speaker 2: of the track that super long straights into hairpins, it's
4:31
Speaker 2: a track that rewards a lot of risk and ability
4:34
Speaker 2: to get the bike stopped into some of those big stops.
4:37
Speaker 2: We know how good he is with the bike sideways
4:38
Speaker 2: on the brakes, but I don't think there's a podium
4:41
Speaker 2: in the offering for him if he qualifies outside of
4:43
Speaker 2: the top six. So I think it's just too difficult.
4:45
Speaker 2: So he's certainly due to have a clean qualifying because
4:48
Speaker 2: it's been a while since we saw one.
4:51
Speaker 1: I think it would be good to, yeah, see him
4:52
Speaker 1: not crash out of a Q two. It'll be like
4:54
Speaker 1: there's another mark on you're bing go kind of market.
4:57
Speaker 2: Actually it'll be novelty he actually finishes his Q two
5:02
Speaker 2: upright on a bike rather than he did gravel traps.
5:04
Speaker 3: That.
5:05
Speaker 1: Well, let's talk about the Japanese manufacturers because it is
5:07
Speaker 1: their home race for Honda and Yamaha. Like you said earlier,
5:11
Speaker 1: we mentioned in previous pods that it seems like Fabio's
5:14
Speaker 1: coming to terms with where his bike's and and being
5:16
Speaker 1: able to, I guess, ride around some of the problems
5:20
Speaker 1: and deal with it as best as he can. How
5:22
Speaker 1: do you think that we're going to see the Japanese
5:24
Speaker 1: manufacturers play out this weekend?
5:27
Speaker 2: It's interesting, isn't it, because you look at the constructors,
5:29
Speaker 2: and Yamahara are very firm fourth and Hondra are a
5:32
Speaker 2: very firm fifth. But they come here off a pretty
5:36
Speaker 2: decent weekend last weekend in Indonesia. Now the Sunday race
5:39
Speaker 2: in Indonesia without his twelve riders finishing gainst the fewest did.
5:42
Speaker 2: I think it was thirteen years in a Grand Prix.
5:44
Speaker 2: So if you stayed on your bike in Indonesia on
5:47
Speaker 2: the Sunday, you were going to score some decent points.
5:49
Speaker 2: But both Yamaha and Honda have some reason for optimism
5:52
Speaker 2: coming in here. We know it's been a really, really
5:55
Speaker 2: difficult year for both. But I think what Kadarero is
5:58
Speaker 2: doing at the moment, it's just an extension of some
6:00
Speaker 2: of the progress we saw him make through Massano. And yeah,
6:05
Speaker 2: that bike still has its difficulties, as we know, it's
6:07
Speaker 2: not particularly quick in a straight line, and he's probably
6:09
Speaker 2: having to take more risks on the breaks and with
6:11
Speaker 2: some of his overtakes because of that. But they're clearly
6:14
Speaker 2: moving forward. And then you look at Honda and you
6:18
Speaker 2: know Johann Zako in the points both races in Indonesia,
6:22
Speaker 2: in the Sprint and the Grand Prix. It's the first
6:24
Speaker 2: time he's managed to do that the entire year, and
6:27
Speaker 2: there's probably some reason for optimism there. I mean, look,
6:30
Speaker 2: it's not going to be the marquess glory days. We
6:32
Speaker 2: know that, and I think they know that as well,
6:34
Speaker 2: but to me, they don't feel as far a drift
6:38
Speaker 2: off the back as they were. So on a very
6:41
Speaker 2: very good day, you'll see those guys maybe back into
6:43
Speaker 2: the top ten. But I think the margins will be
6:45
Speaker 2: a lot closer than they have been, and we have
6:48
Speaker 2: good quashareros and that bike is slowly but surely starting
6:51
Speaker 2: to get better. Of all the Japanese manufacturers, he's a
6:54
Speaker 2: guy you would expect to be towards the front of
6:56
Speaker 2: the field, but the front of the field for the
6:58
Speaker 2: capabilities of that bike, it might be seven eight thought
7:01
Speaker 2: low end top ten. Even so, that's still a pretty
7:04
Speaker 2: good result because we know Kadi will be super strong here. Aprillier,
7:08
Speaker 2: I've got some real question marks with this weekend ahead
7:11
Speaker 2: because they're just pretty horribly out of form at the moment.
7:13
Speaker 2: But things are looking better for the Japanese manufacturers than
7:16
Speaker 2: they were. But I don't think there'll be massive cause
7:19
Speaker 2: for celebration for the fans at Motigi this weekend.
7:22
Speaker 1: Well, only celebration that I can think of for the
7:24
Speaker 1: Japanese manufacturers would be that it's Takanakagami's last race on
7:28
Speaker 1: home Soil as an official Moto GP rider. So that's
7:31
Speaker 1: big news for Taka, for Honda, for Honda Asia Nidametsu,
7:36
Speaker 1: who have obviously supported him throughout his career. So that's
7:39
Speaker 1: news heading into this weekend. But also you mentioned Prilier there.
7:43
Speaker 1: We've got Miguel Olivera out from that nasty crash last
7:47
Speaker 1: weekend in Indonesia, and Lorenzo Salvadori is replacing him, who
7:52
Speaker 1: we know is the test writer. But I don't think
7:55
Speaker 1: and you could tell me if I'm wrong here, but
7:57
Speaker 1: I don't think Lorenzo is going to go and make
7:59
Speaker 1: headlines and waves this weekend in Mategi.
8:02
Speaker 2: Not really. I mean that's not really. The brief is
8:04
Speaker 2: that when some of these tests and reserve riders get
8:07
Speaker 2: a spot because someone's injured or sick or what have you.
8:09
Speaker 2: We've seen this with Stephan Bradle over the years. They're
8:12
Speaker 2: more there as a data gathering exercise as much as
8:14
Speaker 2: anything else. But really do seem to have lost their
8:19
Speaker 2: way a little bit. I mean, Maverick Vinale is a
8:21
Speaker 2: mercurial Maverick, as we always talk about on this podcast,
8:24
Speaker 2: and Alisia Spargaro was super unlucky of course, in Indonesia
8:28
Speaker 2: last weekend because he got punted by Jack Miller three
8:30
Speaker 2: quarters into the race. But I don't know about you.
8:33
Speaker 2: Alaish hasn't had that same sort of normal, hard edged
8:36
Speaker 2: Aleish status about him since Catalonia when he announced that
8:41
Speaker 2: he wasn't going to be here for twenty twenty five.
8:43
Speaker 2: And that's natural, whether it's intentional or not. If you've
8:47
Speaker 2: decided you're pulling the pin at the end of the season,
8:50
Speaker 2: you can't help but you know not no, he's off,
8:53
Speaker 2: but mentally you're not the same rider that you perhaps
8:55
Speaker 2: were because you've already acknowledged that the end is coming
8:58
Speaker 2: and they just see to have really stalled out. We
9:02
Speaker 2: know that it's a massive change there next season because
9:04
Speaker 2: Ralph Fernandez is the only one of their four writers
9:06
Speaker 2: who's going to be back in twenty twenty five. So
9:09
Speaker 2: they're in a bit of a weird spot at the moment. Aprilier.
9:12
Speaker 2: They're pretty badly out of form, have been since Aragon.
9:15
Speaker 2: Maverick Rinalez managed to get some decent results in Indonesia,
9:18
Speaker 2: but I think that was mostly attritional because a lot
9:21
Speaker 2: of guys in front of those are Prillias came off
9:23
Speaker 2: so Savador is there to collect data, which I think
9:25
Speaker 2: they need. But it's hard to see which of those
9:29
Speaker 2: other three guys is going to get in the mix
9:31
Speaker 2: with the KTM guys like Benda and a Costa particularly,
9:34
Speaker 2: and let alone all of those ducaddies, because you know
9:37
Speaker 2: we've seen Marco Bizeki's been a little bit better the
9:39
Speaker 2: last couple of Grand Prix. Dakati's still the force you
9:41
Speaker 2: have to beat. By the way, Well, I've got you here.
9:44
Speaker 2: This is a stat that's related to absolutely nothing, But
9:46
Speaker 2: I only realized today. I don't know why it's taken
9:48
Speaker 2: me this long. Did you know that if the Ducati
9:52
Speaker 2: GP twenty threes were entering this championship as a constructor
9:55
Speaker 2: in their own right, they're actually becoming second because the
9:57
Speaker 2: two marquees, brothers Bozeki and Dijena, I've actually scored outscored KTM.
10:01
Speaker 2: They've actually outscored a brilliant They've actually outscored the Japanese manufacturers.
10:05
Speaker 2: So Jacati's coming first and second in the Constructors Championship,
10:09
Speaker 2: and that probably shows you how much of a three
10:13
Speaker 2: tier motor GP we've got this year. We've got the
10:15
Speaker 2: GP twenty fours in tier one GP twenty three's in
10:18
Speaker 2: Tier two and everybody else after that. And I don't
10:21
Speaker 2: know why that hadn't dawn on me until today, but
10:23
Speaker 2: I looked at it and went, my goodness, this has
10:25
Speaker 2: just been such a dominant championship, hasn't it all year?
10:28
Speaker 1: Even from the get go? And I think everybody knew
10:30
Speaker 1: coming into this year. This year that Duke Caddy was
10:33
Speaker 1: going to dominate. I kind of thought that the ktms
10:36
Speaker 1: would be a little bit closer up the front, but
10:38
Speaker 1: it just seemed me too missing, like these final little pieces.
10:42
Speaker 1: But you mentioned Pedro and I wanted to ask you
10:44
Speaker 1: the first time he earn a Grand Prix bike, which
10:46
Speaker 1: we've been saying pretty much every race this year, but
10:49
Speaker 1: how do you think he's going to go at this
10:51
Speaker 1: style track this weekend?
10:53
Speaker 2: I'm going to make a bold prediction he will be
10:55
Speaker 2: Rookie of the Year, Rookie of the year. Well, he
10:57
Speaker 2: can actually be crowned Rookie of the Year this weekend
11:00
Speaker 2: because there were enough points on the table that if
11:03
Speaker 2: another rookie entered this weekend and then won every other
11:06
Speaker 2: race of the rest of the season, they could beat
11:07
Speaker 2: him for a Rookie of the Year. So congratulations, Pedro,
11:09
Speaker 2: You've won Rookie of the Year in a class of
11:11
Speaker 2: exactly one, but exactly but get the balloons out. But
11:18
Speaker 2: it's funny with him because the usual caveats of well
11:21
Speaker 2: he hasn't beaten a track on a murdor GP bike,
11:23
Speaker 2: they tend to apply to most people, but they don't
11:24
Speaker 2: tend to apply to him. And we saw that last
11:27
Speaker 2: weekend at Mandalika front row qualifying against all of those
11:32
Speaker 2: decaddies was absolutely outstanding and regressed probably to the mean
11:37
Speaker 2: of the bike in the spring where he fell back
11:38
Speaker 2: a little bit, but in the actual Grand Prix he
11:41
Speaker 2: was just a nailed on podium finisher from lap one
11:43
Speaker 2: onwards pretty much. And you know, Bastianini was tried really
11:47
Speaker 2: hard to close him down in those last few laps
11:49
Speaker 2: before he fell off and pecobno I finished third in
11:51
Speaker 2: that race and was nowhere near a costa so once
11:54
Speaker 2: he got to keep that podium after all, the high
11:56
Speaker 2: pressure fund that we had after the race massively deserved.
12:00
Speaker 2: And it just goes back to what I was saying before.
12:02
Speaker 2: All the normal things you say about rookies and experienced
12:05
Speaker 2: guys in this category, they almost don't apply to him,
12:08
Speaker 2: and I think that's just testament to how good the
12:09
Speaker 2: young fellaw is.
12:11
Speaker 3: Well.
12:11
Speaker 1: Speaking of young fellas, and let's move on to the Aussies.
12:15
Speaker 1: We've got Remy Gardner wild carding for Yamaha as their
12:18
Speaker 1: test writer, filling in for Cal Crutchlow, who's still out
12:21
Speaker 1: with that injured hand this weekend. Nice to see another
12:24
Speaker 1: Ossie on the grid. Remy's had I think some decent
12:28
Speaker 1: luck here in the past from memory in his younger
12:31
Speaker 1: previous classes. How do you think he's going to go?
12:34
Speaker 1: Obviously he's not out trying to set records like we
12:36
Speaker 1: were talking about with Lorenzo Salvadori, But how do you
12:40
Speaker 1: think Remy's going to go to his third time on
12:42
Speaker 1: the yamahamoer GP bike.
12:44
Speaker 3: Yeah.
12:44
Speaker 2: Look, I think having a bit more of a run
12:46
Speaker 2: up and knowing that this was coming a long time
12:48
Speaker 2: in advance is going to help. Because you remember when
12:51
Speaker 2: he came in at Germany, it was because Alex Strins
12:54
Speaker 2: had hurt himself the previous weekend Assen and it was
12:56
Speaker 2: all super rushed and trying to get everything organized with
12:58
Speaker 2: his superbike program, And so I think he'll be better
13:01
Speaker 2: for that. I mean, obviously he is riding for the
13:04
Speaker 2: test team, so his job is to be a data
13:06
Speaker 2: gatherer to a point. But he's been decent at Motigi
13:09
Speaker 2: in the past and he's talked about in the lead
13:11
Speaker 2: up to this. Of course, his one motor GP appearance
13:13
Speaker 2: here was for KTM back in twenty twenty two, riding
13:17
Speaker 2: for a Japanese manufacturer. With the success in the history
13:21
Speaker 2: that Yamaha's had at a Japanese Grand Porix, it's a
13:23
Speaker 2: pretty special achievement. It's probably something he never thought that
13:26
Speaker 2: he would tick off as an achievement. But the one
13:29
Speaker 2: thing about Rebby he does like to ride a motorcycle.
13:32
Speaker 2: Because he's just come off back to back superbike weekends
13:35
Speaker 2: and after this weekend at Motigi, he goes straight back
13:37
Speaker 2: to Esteril and then to Hareth to finish off the
13:40
Speaker 2: superbike season, so he's got five straight weekends on racetracks,
13:44
Speaker 2: so you know, we know he loves to ride, but
13:47
Speaker 2: I guess if you may as well ride on TV
13:50
Speaker 2: and have everyone looking at you rather than thrashing your
13:52
Speaker 2: dirt bike around. So busy time for Remick, but he'll
13:55
Speaker 2: be very very keen to show as well as he
13:57
Speaker 2: can and do what he can do as a home
13:59
Speaker 2: run in inverted commas.
14:01
Speaker 1: For him and for Yamaha, you'd want to hope that
14:03
Speaker 1: he enjoys his job. Hey, imagine that, Oh go right
14:06
Speaker 1: on motorbike five weekends.
14:07
Speaker 2: In a row. There's worse jobs. If I mean, well,
14:11
Speaker 2: no one would offer me because I'd be about ninety
14:13
Speaker 2: nine percent short on talent. But if you're him in
14:15
Speaker 2: the phone rings, you say yes, please, would you like
14:17
Speaker 2: me at the airport?
14:19
Speaker 1: Exactly? But we haven't actually mentioned it, you guys, you've
14:22
Speaker 1: probably seen it in the title. But Jack Miller is
14:25
Speaker 1: joining us from Japan. So we're going to catch up
14:28
Speaker 1: with Jack here all about his season, what he's got
14:30
Speaker 1: going on, and hopefully let us in for a few
14:32
Speaker 1: little secrets. So stay tuned for the Jack Miller interview. Jack,
14:37
Speaker 1: welcome back to Fox Sports. Thank you so much for
14:40
Speaker 1: joining us today.
14:42
Speaker 4: A pleasure. Thanks for having me.
14:45
Speaker 2: Jack. I've got to say, every time you go to
14:48
Speaker 2: Motigi now after twenty twenty two, I can imagine that
14:51
Speaker 2: you must drive into that place and like the spile
14:53
Speaker 2: gets a little bit wider because I remember speaking to
14:56
Speaker 2: you after twenty two when you won there, and it
14:58
Speaker 2: was one of those ones you're like, I didn't realize
15:00
Speaker 2: I could write a motor bike that good, Like you
15:03
Speaker 2: were absolutely amazed with what you'd done that day, because
15:05
Speaker 2: that was quite an out of body experience for you.
15:08
Speaker 2: Is that when you look back and it still gives
15:10
Speaker 2: you that massive boost because it was a pretty special
15:12
Speaker 2: race to you, wasn't it.
15:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely, it's you know, it's a track I've always enjoyed.
15:17
Speaker 3: I think I started sort of my one two five
15:21
Speaker 3: campaign off here pretty much.
15:23
Speaker 4: I mean I did miss Ano back.
15:25
Speaker 3: In twenty eleven and then missed Aragon and then sort
15:29
Speaker 3: of started full time on Grand Prix here in Mategi
15:32
Speaker 3: and did then it was Mategi, Australia, Malaysia and the
15:35
Speaker 3: Valencia for the end of that season and then yeah,
15:40
Speaker 3: every year in Moto GP, it's been. It's been a
15:44
Speaker 3: good one. We were strong here and Moto three back
15:45
Speaker 3: in the day, and then by yeah and Moto GP.
15:49
Speaker 3: You know, even last year been on the on the
15:51
Speaker 3: front row, fourth in the sprint and then obviously getting
15:55
Speaker 3: shafted in the race when she got red flagged.
15:59
Speaker 4: It was a tough one, but at least not that
16:03
Speaker 4: it shouldn't have got red.
16:04
Speaker 3: Flagg because it definitely needed to, but that it didn't
16:06
Speaker 3: restart was more the bad one for us. But no
16:11
Speaker 3: place I really enjoy a track that sort of flows
16:14
Speaker 3: for me. It just works my writing style. I guess
16:16
Speaker 3: I've always.
16:17
Speaker 4: Been pretty competitive here and yeah, like you say, after
16:20
Speaker 4: you've had a result like we did here in twenty two,
16:23
Speaker 4: it's definitely pretty special.
16:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think twenty two, if I remember rightly, it
16:29
Speaker 2: was about five seconds. It was only because you'd pulled
16:31
Speaker 2: it up on the last lap because you were trying
16:32
Speaker 2: to keep your concentration going. But I did want to
16:36
Speaker 2: flick forward. And you know, you're obviously getting to the
16:38
Speaker 2: back end of the time with KTM after these couple
16:40
Speaker 2: of years now, and you're always pretty honest with these
16:42
Speaker 2: sorts of things, so I can be pretty comfortable asking
16:45
Speaker 2: this one. It clearly started pretty well in twenty twenty three,
16:47
Speaker 2: and then you know it's clearly tailed off since then.
16:50
Speaker 2: It's been a difficult one this year for you if
16:52
Speaker 2: you look back at the time with KTM, like, how
16:55
Speaker 2: do you feel about the whole thing and is there
16:58
Speaker 2: maybe a little bit of a disappoint that it hasn't
17:01
Speaker 2: quite worked out the way you thought it was because
17:03
Speaker 2: I know you were super optimistic going in there. But
17:05
Speaker 2: for one reason or another, this year's just been a
17:08
Speaker 2: real hard one, isn't it.
17:12
Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely, as you know, there's no hiding that fact.
17:16
Speaker 3: I think we sort of hit the ground running, as
17:18
Speaker 3: you said, you know, with the podiums and stuff like that.
17:23
Speaker 4: You know, it was it was going pretty good. And then.
17:27
Speaker 3: Even to the tail end of last year, you know,
17:30
Speaker 3: we like I said just before about Matega, you know,
17:33
Speaker 3: we had a solid race going here, you know, crashed
17:37
Speaker 3: out of the lead in Valencia. There was a lot
17:39
Speaker 3: of positives as well towards the back end of last year,
17:42
Speaker 3: and then this year there's been hiding the fact that
17:45
Speaker 3: I haven't jeled at all with the bike and the tires.
17:49
Speaker 3: So I think that's definitely something we need to to
17:57
Speaker 3: look at and try. You know, we're still trying to
17:59
Speaker 3: understand these things and still trying to rectify the situation,
18:06
Speaker 3: not only for myself but also for the team.
18:09
Speaker 4: I mean going forward. You know, we've we've had no
18:13
Speaker 4: real updates in terms of.
18:19
Speaker 3: Like parts, in terms of chassis, in terms of swing arms,
18:22
Speaker 3: in terms of stuff.
18:23
Speaker 4: I had to try and rectify.
18:25
Speaker 3: This issue that we're having with the with the with
18:29
Speaker 3: the vibration caused by the rear tire.
18:31
Speaker 4: So you know, things haven't worked out the way that
18:35
Speaker 4: I had planned this year, that's for certain.
18:36
Speaker 3: And you know, especially after the off season that we
18:40
Speaker 3: put in and you know how much I had and
18:44
Speaker 3: how much motivation I had going into the season, It's
18:48
Speaker 3: been the polar opposite of what I had planned and anticipated,
18:52
Speaker 3: that's for certain.
18:54
Speaker 2: I wanted to go back to something you had said
18:56
Speaker 2: around about the time when all the silly seeds of
18:58
Speaker 2: stuff was getting really was a stupid soe he's not
19:01
Speaker 2: the silly season around June time, and just more in
19:04
Speaker 2: the context for our Ossie's listeners here, when you're talking
19:06
Speaker 2: about Pedro Costa and you said at the time something
19:09
Speaker 2: along the lines of that you'd be pissed off if
19:11
Speaker 2: Katy was to lose him when all the rider market
19:14
Speaker 2: stuff shook out because of just how good this kid is.
19:16
Speaker 2: So for the Aussie fans to get a sense of Pedro,
19:19
Speaker 2: like how good could this kid be? Like how high
19:23
Speaker 2: is the ceiling with him? Because you've been around in
19:24
Speaker 2: this World championship twelve thirteen years now, I mean obviously
19:27
Speaker 2: he came in after Mark came in, who was sort
19:30
Speaker 2: of you know Pedro before Pedro was How good do
19:32
Speaker 2: you reckon this kid?
19:33
Speaker 3: Is?
19:33
Speaker 2: Because we've already seen glimpses of it this year. You've
19:35
Speaker 2: got a front row seat for it. What's he doing
19:37
Speaker 2: that makes him so good?
19:46
Speaker 3: Oh, he's got a fantastic writing style. I think there's
19:49
Speaker 3: no hide in that fact. I think he's able to,
19:52
Speaker 3: you know, adapt and use his body to help compensate
19:56
Speaker 3: for the motorcycle.
20:00
Speaker 4: And make them.
20:00
Speaker 3: Unless they modice, I would do some things that it
20:04
Speaker 3: isn't designed toom.
20:08
Speaker 4: But I'm saying that.
20:09
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, as we saw with Mark's downfall
20:13
Speaker 3: with Honda, I mean, if the head's not in the
20:15
Speaker 3: right place in terms of developing a bike and so on,
20:19
Speaker 3: we've seen that story far too many times.
20:23
Speaker 4: You know, where you.
20:25
Speaker 3: Can override a bike to a certain degree, but sooner
20:30
Speaker 3: or later it'll come out in the wash, as we
20:34
Speaker 3: saw with the whole Honda Marquees situation. So I think
20:39
Speaker 3: that the ceilings as high as Pedro wants it to be.
20:44
Speaker 3: But in saying that, it's not twenty and thirteen when
20:49
Speaker 3: Mark came in anymore twenty fourteen when Mark twenty thirteen.
20:53
Speaker 4: It was when Mark came in. You know, it's it's
20:58
Speaker 4: twenty going on twenty twenty five, and.
21:02
Speaker 3: There isn't just a Lorenzo and Rossi to sort of
21:05
Speaker 3: battle with Padreiser on his day.
21:07
Speaker 4: It's it's you know, from first to twentieth.
21:13
Speaker 3: It's stacked. So we'll wait and see how high the
21:18
Speaker 3: ceiling is for him. But obviously it's different, different eras
21:22
Speaker 3: now I think. But you know, and as we've seen
21:26
Speaker 3: this year with you know, all the armchair critics before
21:28
Speaker 3: the season come on about Mark He's going to win
21:31
Speaker 3: every race going to to the end of the year,
21:34
Speaker 3: and that hasn't worked out how they all thought.
21:37
Speaker 4: I mean, they all dismissed Peco and Martin.
21:41
Speaker 3: And those boys and how good they are riding, because
21:45
Speaker 3: you know, there's no feat like, for example, what Peko
21:48
Speaker 3: did to Mark in her wrath was out marking Mark
21:53
Speaker 3: at his own track. So, you know, I think the
21:57
Speaker 3: level of competition is he stupidly high at the moment,
22:01
Speaker 3: and you know, we'll have to wait and see if
22:04
Speaker 3: they can turn the package around.
22:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, certainly, it's an awesome time to be a fan
22:09
Speaker 2: at the moment because the depth is so strong, as
22:11
Speaker 2: you mentioned. But Jack, we haven't spoken to you since
22:14
Speaker 2: your deal for twenty five with Pramak Yamaha came up,
22:17
Speaker 2: or Pramaha, as Roneita likes to keep calling it, I
22:20
Speaker 2: keep saying that. But obviously fantastic news for you and
22:23
Speaker 2: for the Aussie fans. And from your perspective, what can
22:27
Speaker 2: you see that's happening at Yamaha at the moment, because
22:30
Speaker 2: the arrow seems to be pointing in the right direction
22:32
Speaker 2: now after some pretty tough times. And I guess is
22:35
Speaker 2: a second question to that, was there a time where
22:38
Speaker 2: you were genuinely concerned that you may not be on
22:40
Speaker 2: the grid in twenty five because there was a long
22:43
Speaker 2: time between Migello and then obviously Missano when you got
22:46
Speaker 2: named there was it looking a bit dicey there for
22:49
Speaker 2: a while.
22:51
Speaker 4: It was well and truly dicey.
22:53
Speaker 3: It was just done in my books at one point
22:56
Speaker 3: over the summer break, so you know, we'd add that
22:59
Speaker 3: sort of conversation with the family and people around and
23:03
Speaker 3: basically said you come to phillip Islon is probably going
23:06
Speaker 3: to be our last one, you know.
23:11
Speaker 4: So that was that was pretty shitty time to deal with.
23:14
Speaker 3: And you know, something that we had not shitty to
23:17
Speaker 3: deal with, but just sort of you had to come
23:20
Speaker 3: to terms with it.
23:21
Speaker 4: It's not on your you know.
23:22
Speaker 3: The biggest thing I kept saying at the time was
23:25
Speaker 3: the thing that pissed me off most was that it
23:28
Speaker 3: wasn't on my terms.
23:28
Speaker 4: You know, I didn't get to leave on my terms.
23:30
Speaker 3: Or and you know, the more I thought about it,
23:33
Speaker 3: how many professional athletes do actually get to leave on
23:36
Speaker 3: their terms?
23:37
Speaker 4: Slimedon? So it's a tough thing to deal with.
23:42
Speaker 3: But I did feel I do generally feel like I've
23:45
Speaker 3: still got more to give.
23:46
Speaker 4: I still generally feel like.
23:48
Speaker 3: The determination and let's say, the work that I put
23:51
Speaker 3: in for this season, you know, and to get up
23:56
Speaker 3: until this point bugger all out of it has been
23:59
Speaker 3: a very very hard peeled in the swallow, but it's
24:04
Speaker 3: made me all the more hungry because I know that
24:06
Speaker 3: if we can get comfortable and understand the motorcycle and
24:11
Speaker 3: try to make things work, I'm I'm almost I can
24:14
Speaker 3: almost guarantee that, you know, they will help me to
24:18
Speaker 3: put in again another epic off season and hit the
24:23
Speaker 3: ground running hopefully in twenty twenty five with like you say,
24:26
Speaker 3: a project like that where you know, they're they're they're
24:31
Speaker 3: trying so much, and I think they've got some great
24:33
Speaker 3: leadership involved there and they're trying to turn things around
24:36
Speaker 3: and to be a board the one. It's it's almost
24:40
Speaker 3: like a dream come true for me because I went
24:42
Speaker 3: through the whole Lorenzo Rossi era and then even with
24:47
Speaker 3: Jonas and guys like that that you know pretty much
24:49
Speaker 3: it seemed like at one point everybody, every bloke that
24:52
Speaker 3: hopped on it, whether they are rookie or not, we'll
24:55
Speaker 3: get pardiums on that thing.
24:56
Speaker 4: You know, look like an absolute dream to ride.
24:58
Speaker 3: And yes, it's it's changed in the latter years, but
25:02
Speaker 3: it's still you know, the bones of that bike are
25:04
Speaker 3: a fantastic bike. So I believe if we can work
25:08
Speaker 3: up from that and you know, try to hopefully bring
25:11
Speaker 3: some of our experience and ideas across, hopefully we can
25:17
Speaker 3: all start to gel together. And you know, having that
25:20
Speaker 3: opportunity to work again with Parlow and the team over
25:23
Speaker 3: at Parmag, you know, it's like a second rom for me.
25:25
Speaker 3: So no, I'm looking forward to it, and as I said.
25:28
Speaker 4: Now.
25:29
Speaker 3: Just Magato to get that opportunity just to try and
25:33
Speaker 3: prove myself a little bit more, not so much prove
25:36
Speaker 3: to myself.
25:36
Speaker 4: More so than prove myself. I feel like I've done that.
25:41
Speaker 3: I don't need to prove anything to anybody except for myself.
25:44
Speaker 3: I just want to do things on my own terms
25:46
Speaker 3: and that's about it. So that's obviously the government. The
25:50
Speaker 3: main goal is to go over there and.
25:51
Speaker 4: Just try and take the best out of it. For myself.
25:56
Speaker 1: Well, Matt's asked all the spicy questions, so I'm going
25:59
Speaker 1: to come in with a fun one. The next Grandfrix.
26:02
Speaker 1: Obviously you haven't even sun the Japanese gran Frie yet,
26:04
Speaker 1: but the next one you're heading home back to the island.
26:07
Speaker 1: How excited are you to return to Philip Island and
26:10
Speaker 1: reason in front of the ouzzy crowd.
26:12
Speaker 4: I'm looking forward to it.
26:13
Speaker 3: Hopefully we don't get blown off the oil and this
26:16
Speaker 3: time around it'll be a little bit better weather this year.
26:19
Speaker 4: Around, hopefully.
26:20
Speaker 3: No, I'm looking forward to it, you know. Obviously, not
26:24
Speaker 3: getting to turnal app really on Sunday was was pretty shitty.
26:28
Speaker 3: So looking forward to heading home and seeing the Aussie
26:31
Speaker 3: fans and as I said, hopefully the weather puts it
26:34
Speaker 3: on for us and we have you know, three beautiful
26:36
Speaker 3: sunny days down the island, but it is Philip Holland,
26:38
Speaker 3: so we won't all their breath. But now I'm looking
26:42
Speaker 3: forward to to getting home. Obviously it's a nice one
26:45
Speaker 3: for us, the way that the Calens work out this year.
26:48
Speaker 3: So head home from Japan and and get a week
26:51
Speaker 3: back in OS or just over a week back in
26:55
Speaker 3: os and then you know, quite easy flight from Townsville
26:57
Speaker 3: down down in Melbourne and and be ready to go
27:01
Speaker 3: all on this time zone. Say no, I'm super excited.
27:04
Speaker 3: I'm always excited to head back to Philip Island. You know,
27:07
Speaker 3: it's it's an extreme words can't even describe. It's just
27:11
Speaker 3: an it's an extremely awesome feeling heading down there and
27:14
Speaker 3: just seeing the houssy motives WATS fans because I think,
27:17
Speaker 3: you know, especially Aussie motor soccing fans, they are one
27:19
Speaker 3: of a coin where they love it, you know, they
27:22
Speaker 3: do or do I And last year was was awesome
27:25
Speaker 3: just to be able to even with the race getting.
27:27
Speaker 4: Kenned on on Sunday and whatnot.
27:30
Speaker 3: You know, it was awesome to get out there and
27:33
Speaker 3: sign some fans autographs and stuff like that and standing
27:35
Speaker 3: bloody on gardener straight there for you know, almost a
27:40
Speaker 3: couple of hours on in there, signing and giving away
27:42
Speaker 3: pretty much everything that had on me. But you know, no,
27:49
Speaker 3: I get back and just see everyone's it's awesome to
27:52
Speaker 3: come back.
27:52
Speaker 4: So I'm looking forward to it now.
27:53
Speaker 3: I'm in that tracks, so much fun to ride, So
27:56
Speaker 3: looking forward to at least some more decent weather and
27:58
Speaker 3: riding around there in decent decent conditions.
28:01
Speaker 4: Awesome.
28:01
Speaker 1: Well, thank you so much for taking the time to
28:03
Speaker 1: chat with us, and good luck this weekend, and we
28:05
Speaker 1: will see you in a couple of weeks down at
28:07
Speaker 1: the island.
28:09
Speaker 4: You will thank you very much.
28:12
Speaker 1: Well, Matt, do you have it? Jack Miller? And he
28:15
Speaker 1: was quite honest in that conversation.
28:17
Speaker 2: It's one thing I've always admired about Jack from the
28:20
Speaker 2: moment I started covering, which you know, if he's old,
28:22
Speaker 2: it makes me older. But if you ask Jack a
28:24
Speaker 2: direct question, he doesn't duck the answer, and I think
28:26
Speaker 2: that's massively refreshing and part of why from a media perspective,
28:31
Speaker 2: we all like talking to him, because if you want
28:33
Speaker 2: an honest opinion on anything, a red flag, grace, what
28:35
Speaker 2: someone's doing on another bike, his own performance, you might
28:39
Speaker 2: not like what he has to say, but he's always
28:41
Speaker 2: unflailingly honest, and look listening to him verbalized the fact that, yeah, look,
28:46
Speaker 2: this very much could have been done. I think that's
28:48
Speaker 2: going to be great for him going into Yamaha, because
28:51
Speaker 2: it's a second chance for him, it's a chance to
28:53
Speaker 2: ride a bike and for a manufacturer he's always wanted to.
28:55
Speaker 2: And I think he's going to play a pretty important
28:57
Speaker 2: role there with Yamaha because they are starting to come
29:00
Speaker 2: back to where we think Yamaha should be. I think
29:03
Speaker 2: he's definitely got a role to play there with his experience,
29:06
Speaker 2: and I'm very, very curious to see how it works
29:08
Speaker 2: out for him.
29:09
Speaker 1: It was cool to hear him so excited coming home
29:11
Speaker 1: for the Australian Grand Prix, especially even he admitted sorry
29:15
Speaker 1: is quite a deflating year for him, so I think
29:17
Speaker 1: coming home to the Aussie fans, obviously he's got a
29:20
Speaker 1: corner named after him at Philip Island as well, so
29:22
Speaker 1: it's quite exciting to have his mum and daddy, all
29:24
Speaker 1: his family and friends come down to watch him race.
29:26
Speaker 1: So we're obviously excited to see him in a couple
29:29
Speaker 1: of weeks time, but we do have the Japanese grandfrie
29:32
Speaker 1: which is what this podcast is about. And before we
29:34
Speaker 1: wrap things up with the news headlines, David Alonso could
29:38
Speaker 1: take home the Moto Iree title this weekend. I mean,
29:41
Speaker 1: it's pretty much going to happen, right unless something we
29:46
Speaker 1: don't want to talk about happens. But what do you
29:48
Speaker 1: think David Alonzo winning the title this weekend?
29:51
Speaker 2: I think he has to win, finish thirteenth or better,
29:53
Speaker 2: which given the way that he's got this year, he's
29:55
Speaker 2: had one of the most successful lightweight class seasons in
29:58
Speaker 2: the history of the CHET World Chair, so he'll be
30:01
Speaker 2: almost certainly our wheel champion for twenty twenty four. And
30:05
Speaker 2: he's a guy who I don't think it's gonna be
30:07
Speaker 2: too long before we see him on a Motor GP grit.
30:09
Speaker 2: And if Acosta is the new Marquees, then I think
30:13
Speaker 2: David Alonso could be the new Acosta. And yeah, wow,
30:16
Speaker 2: seeing those two in Motor GP in a couple of
30:18
Speaker 2: years time. Looking forward to that, I.
30:20
Speaker 1: Was just thinking, if the weather is typical Japan Matteggy
30:23
Speaker 1: weather where it's a lot of rain and stuff, imagine
30:25
Speaker 1: what the Moto three race is going to be like.
30:27
Speaker 1: What they've been like the last few, and they've been dry.
30:29
Speaker 1: Imagine if it's wet or it's a you know, a
30:32
Speaker 1: flag to flag whatever like at.
30:34
Speaker 2: The Carnage, Moto three will be as entertaining as it
30:38
Speaker 2: always is, and the best news for us is it's
30:40
Speaker 2: going to basically be like a midway through Sunday. So
30:42
Speaker 2: get comfortable on the couch. It's going to be good fun.
30:45
Speaker 1: Well, guys, that is all we have time for for
30:48
Speaker 1: today for your Japanese preview on pit Talk, but don't forget.
30:51
Speaker 1: You can catch all the action live and add break
30:53
Speaker 1: free on Fox Sports and KO Plus. Keep up today
30:56
Speaker 1: with all the latest Moto GP news on our socials
30:58
Speaker 1: at Fox Motorsport or via our website foxsports dot com
31:02
Speaker 1: dot au. But from Matt Clayton and myself Nita Amulin,
31:06
Speaker 1: we're gonna be back real soon with more Moto GP
31:08
Speaker 1: pittoc