Earlier this year, the Australian conceded his time in MotoGP might be up.
KTM dropped Miller in favour of Pedro Acosta and the four-time grand prix winner admitted his phone hadn’t been ringing with any offers for 2025.
Speaking on Fox Spots’ Pit Talk podcast, Miller detailed the grim reality of his situation.
“It was well and truly dicey. It was done in my books at one point there over the summer break,” said Miller.
“We had had that conversation with the family and people around and basically said ‘Come to Phillip Island, it’s probably going to be our last one’.
“So that was a pretty shitty time to deal with and something that we had to… not shitty to deal with, but you had to come to terms with it.
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“The biggest thing I kept saying at the time was – the thing that pissed me off most was – it wasn’t on my terms. I didn’t get to leave on my terms.
“The more I thought about it, how many professional athletes do actually get to leave on their terms? Slim to none.”
Miller, to that point in the season, had barely featured.
Beyond a fifth place finish at the Portuguese Motorcycle Grand Prix, Miller hadn’t cracked the top 10 in any other races to the halfway mark.
“It’s a tough thing to deal with but I do genuinely feel like I’ve still got more to give,” said Miller.
“I genuinely feel like the determination and let’s say the work I put in for this season, and to get up until this point bugger-all out of it has been a very, very hard pill to swallow.”
Miller ultimately received a lifeline in the form of Yamaha.
Pramac, who he rode for from 2018 to 2020, will switch from Ducati to Yamaha bikes in 2025.
“To be aboard the M1, it’s almost like a dream come true for me because I went through the whole [Jorge] Lorenzo, [Valentino] Rossi era and then even with Jonas [Folger] and guys like that, pretty much it seemed like at one point every bloke that hopped on it whether they were a rookie or not were getting podiums on that thing. It looked like an absolute dream to ride,” he said.
“And yes, it’s changed over the years but it’s still the bones of that bike. They’re a fantastic bike. So I believe if we can work up from that and try to hopefully bring some of that experience and ideas across, hopefully we can all start to gel together.
“Having that opportunity again to work with Paolo [Campinoti, team principal] and the team over at Pramac, it’s like a second home for me. I’m looking forward to it.
“Like I said, just mega to get that opportunity just to try and prove myself a little bit more. I don’t need to prove anything to anybody, except for myself. I just want to do things on my own terms and that’s about it. That’s obviously the main goal is to go over there and try take the best out of it for myself.”
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