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Last year was the first for the Queenslander as a KTM rider in the premier class, and he would finish 11th in the championship, seven positions behind team-mate Brad Binder.
Miller had the challenge of adjusting to the RC16 after five years riding Ducatis but, ironically, his best results came early in the campaign.
A sole Grand Prix podium of 2023 came in Round 4 at Jerez, as did one of his two Sprint podiums, the other being achieved in Round 7 at the Sachsenring.
Thereafter, he never took the chequered flag any higher than sixth in a Grand Prix or fourth in a Sprint, despite a bump in performance thanks to the introduction of a carbon chassis during the Asia-Pacific flyaways.
Reflecting on 2023, he told Spanish publication Motosan, “What would I give myself from one to 10? Five, because we wanted more.
“As a rider, if you don’t win every race you want more and more. We did some things well but there are some areas where I wanted to do better.
“If you look at Jerez, it was a fantastic weekend for all of us. But also in Portimao, in the first race of the championship, I did really well in my first outing with the bike.
“I was also very fast in the United States; I felt capable of challenging Alex [Rins] for victory in the race. Unfortunately, it couldn’t be, I fell too soon.
“There have been some mistakes, I thought it was going to be better than it was; but I either fell or made other mistakes. That’s why I feel like a five is a fair grade.”
Despite the strong start to 2023, Miller said he was fortunate to burst out of the blocks so well given his difficult pre-season.
“If you look at the pre-season tests, in general I was not comfortable,” said ‘Jackass’.
“I was learning and spending hours understanding the bike; what I had to change in my riding to adapt to it, and what I had to change in the bike to adapt it more to my riding.
“When I got on the bike, I found something that seemed incredible to me. It’s something that happens sometimes, but certainly not very often.
“On these motorcycles everything is down to the millimetre so, when you change brands, everything seems strange to you.”
When Miller moved across from Ducati, he also brought with him Crew Chief Cristhian Pupulin, who is one of a number of engineers to make the switch to KTM in recent times.
The Ducati influence is certainly being seen on the RC16 now.
“You just have to take a photo of my bike from [2022] and compare it with this year’s [2023] to understand to what extent we have influenced the bike,” declared Miller.
“They are almost the same in terms of geometry. Obviously, the components are still KTM style.
“But, to be in a position to compete at MotoGP level in 2023, this was the direction we had to go; especially in aerodynamics.
“To be able to compete against eight Ducatis, you need something to fight them with.”
Miller and Brad Binder will again share the Red Bull KTM garage in 2024 while satellite team GasGas Tech3 features the most recent Moto2 championship winners, namely Augusto Fernandez and the much-hyped Pedro Acosta.
While the latter is likely to threaten Miller for his seat, Red Bull KTM Team Manager Francesco Guidotti says they have formulated a plan for the Australian to bounce back in 2024.
