Jack Miller secured his first direct Q2 appearance of the season as Yamaha’s new V4 project continues to show signs of progress at the Catalunya MotoGP. The Australian lapped just 0.2 seconds from the top to finish ninth on the timesheets, while team-mate Toprak Razgatlioglu struggled with the circuit’s notoriously poor grip, describing his experience as “like riding on ice.”
“It doesn’t even sound real—two tenths and ninth!” Miller said after Friday’s session. “I felt good from the get-go here in Barcelona. It’s one of the tracks we’ve been to that I’ve ridden the V4 at before, so we kind of had a rough idea. Obviously, it’s quite a different bike now from what we rode last year. But in general, happy with the day, happy with the pace.”
While Miller acknowledged the V4’s ongoing straight-line speed deficit (down 11-12 km/h in the speed trap), he noted that Catalunya’s layout lessens its impact: “You’re only really using the power on the main straight. The rest of the track, because there’s no grip, you’re just trying to find traction. Together with the boys, we’ve been able to find that window and keep the bike in that window. Really nice to be heading into a Saturday, not going into Q1.”
Miller’s performance follows Fabio Quartararo’s season-best sixth at Le Mans, indicating real momentum for the Yamaha V4. “We’re making headway, absolutely. Rome wasn’t built in a day. It’s going to take trial and error, testing and tweaking, but it’s a little breath of fresh air after what’s been a really trying time for all the engineers involved,” Miller added.
Razgatlioglu, meanwhile, was 19th but just 0.821s from the session leader. The WorldSBK champion admitted he was initially “shocked” by the lack of grip: “This morning was incredible—but not in a good way—because honestly I felt like I had zero grip. I even asked the team, ‘Is there a problem with the bike or is the track always like this?’”
Adapting by observing Quartararo, Razgatlioglu improved by nearly a second and recognized the need to let go of his Superbike habits: “I need to trust the front tyre more… It’s another reminder that I need to stop thinking with my old Superbike habits and continue adapting myself to this completely new phase of my career.”
Both riders are optimistic for Saturday, with Miller relishing a rare Q2 start and Razgatlioglu focused on further adapting and building confidence in challenging track conditions.
