Motorsport.com Italia reports that the Japanese Grand Prix weekend delivered one of the funniest moments of the entire MotoGP season when Jack Miller played taxi driver once again, picking up a stranded Alex Rins at the end of the Friday afternoon session.
After Rins had to park his machine in a escape road, the Australian rider scooped up his fellow Yamaha brand mate on his Prima Pramac Racing machine. What followed was absolute madness on two wheels as Miller treated the fans to a proper stoppie—slamming on the front brake to hoist the rear wheel in the air—before leaning the bike over so far that the Spaniard's leg came within millimeters of the newly laid Motegi asphalt.
If I could repeat it, I would go a little faster to do it better. But okay, it came out well and people laughed, so that's why we're here,
"I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it very much. It was a real madness," Rins explained at the end of the day. The rider from Barcelona admitted he was terrified during the stunt, noting, "In that moment, I shit myself." Because he was clinging to the back without proper passenger pegs to hold onto, Rins feared the worst when Miller tried to mimic a knee-down corner. "My right leg... well, I was keeping my right leg completely outstretched. And I was thinking: 'if we fall here, I destroy everything.' But yes, it was very funny. We will have some television time," he added.
Miller, who finished the day with the 18th best time while Rins slotted in at 20th, had his own cheeky take on the near-death taxi ride when told about his passenger's complaints. "Yeah, well, I expected him to be able to put his knee down; it would have been a spectacular photo," the Australian said. "But then, seeing him, I thought: right, it's just that he didn't have footpegs, right? Obviously he didn't have anywhere to put his foot to even remotely stick his knee out."
The Australian admitted he was initially nervous about pulling off the trick because he had spent the lap cooling down the front tire before venturing onto the grass to collect Rins. Yet the machine cooperated brilliantly when he stabbed the brake. "If I could repeat it, I would go a little faster to do it better. But okay, it came out well and people laughed, so that's why we're here," Miller concluded.
Both riders share identical career crossroads as they face their final months in the premier class. At 31 years old, neither secured a seat for 2027, leaving Miller with a future Yamaha option in WorldSBK while Rins shifts his focus toward a car raid project with an eye on the Dakar rally.
