Image: Supplied.

Australia’s Jack Miller is gearing up for his KTM debut in the MotoGP World Championship, believing ‘we are as ready as we can be’ ahead of the opening round of the 2023 season in Portimao.

Miller had a single day of testing onboard the RC 16 post-race at Valencia last year, and completed outings in the pre-season at Sepang and most recently Portimao.

He adapted easier than he expected to the KTM premier-class platform at the Riccardo Tormo Circuit, and continued the process of becoming accustomed to the RC 16 throughout the rain-impacted test in Malaysia. Sampling the 2023 package for the first time at Portimao, he concluded the pre-season 17th fastest at the undulating 4.5km circuit and identified engine map refinements as an area for improvement.

“We are ready as we can be,” Miller explained. “I was just sitting up here discussing with Johann [Zarco] how the winter testing went. It’s always different when you’re changing manufacturers there are a lot of things you need to learn, and a lot of things you need to understand and make that bike your own.”

“We’re as good as we can be after let’s say five days of testing. The first day at the end of the year last year didn’t do much, because you sort of forget pretty much everything you learned on that day throughout the winter break. The test in Sepang was good. The test here was good as well, we can make some decent strides in the second day.

“I’m as ready as anyone to go racing, I think we’ve all got that itch to get back amongst it. It’s been a long winter break, but it’s been good to have a bit of downtime ahead of what’s going to be a pretty hectic and stressful season.”

The expanded 21-round 2023 MotoGP World Championship commences on Friday in Portimao, Portugal, which will see the introduction of a new format in the premier class including namely a sprint race on Saturday.