KTM has plan for Miller after poor end to 2023

Miller finished 11th in the riders’ championship, seven positions and 130 points behind team-mate Brad Binder, with just one Race (full-length) podium to his name all year.

In fact, the Queenslander did not grace the podium at all, either in a Race or a Sprint, in the latter 13 rounds of 20 in 2023.

KTM broadly managed victories in just two Sprints but did finish second in the constructors’ championship.

“We are very satisfied with the path we have taken, with our project in general,” Guidotti told Italian outlet GPOne.

“I think back to the Jerez race and the top speed record, which doesn’t give any points but makes it clear that the direction is the right one.

“We’re still missing something; Miller was crucial at the beginning of the season in providing the information and confirmation we were looking for, but then he lost his way a bit.

“We have already started talking to him about next season and he understood where to improve.”

Miller’s position at Red Bull KTM, and even on the MotoGP grid in general, was the subject of speculation during 2023 as the Austrian marque tried to figure out how to fit five contracted riders onto four seats.

In the end, Spanish sensation Pedro Acosta was placed at GasGas Tech3 for his upcoming rookie season, with Augusto Fernandez hanging on to his ride at that outfit and Pol Espargaro demoted to a test role for the KTM group.

The pressure will thus be on ‘Jackass’ as soon as 2024, the final year of his current contract, begins although, ironically, it was a strong start to 2023 after five years on Ducatis.

Guidotti ventured that even the mid-year birth of his first child had an impact on Miller’s form.

“I expected him to struggle more at the beginning of the season because, after five years on another bike, you get used to some automatisms,” he explained.

“He was probably so motivated and stoked not to regret the choice he made,” laughed Guidotti, “that he gave his best.

“In such a long season, you have to manage your energy well and, in my opinion, he found himself a bit in deficit at the end.

“Even the birth of his first daughter probably distracted him a bit, but we are all very happy with what he brought.

“It was a huge change for Jack and he spent a lot of energy mentally too, so we let him recover and now we have made a more detailed plan for the winter and the start of next season.”

Miller will not be part of the Sepang Shakedown given KTM’s concession status, with his first MotoGP riding of 2024 set to take place at the Malaysian Grand Prix venue when the Official Test unfolds on February 6-8.