Miller has Decided to Choose KTM

According to The Race’s sources in the MotoGP paddock, Jack Miller has inked a two-year agreement to join the Red Bull KTM squad for 2023 and 2024, with the Australian expected to replace Miguel Oliveira alongside Brad Binder next season.

The announcement was supposed to be released at this weekend’s Catalan Grand Prix, but it’s understood that Miller’s current factory Ducati team has delayed it, and it will be disclosed in the days after Sunday’s race.

Miller’s five years with Ducati, first with Pramac Racing and then the past two seasons in factory red, come to an end as the manufacturer scrambles to make a room not only for Miller’s previously-expected replacement Jorge Martin but also for three-time race winner Enea Bastianini, who is now widely regarded as the clear favourite to replace Miller as Martin remains with Pramac.

Miller’s hiring follows talks between his manager Aki Ajo, who also oversees KTM and Red Bull’s extremely successful factory Moto2 and Moto3 operations, and new factory team head Francesco Guidotti, who previously managed Miller for three seasons at Pramac.

The agreement between the two parties is said to have been struck during the Italian Grand Prix in Mugello last weekend, with KTM eager to announce Miller’s arrival this weekend, but this has been put on hold by his current employers, who must still declare a reorganisation within their ranks.

Miguel Oliveira, who was forced out of KTM by Miller’s arrival, maybe a part of that reorganisation, which would be shocking. He turned down a chance to join satellite team Tech3, where he won two races in 2020 and is now searching elsewhere, with the prospect to replace Bastianini at Gresini Racing currently seeming like the most likely landing site for him.

This opens up a spot on the satellite crew for a former KTM employee, as the company aims to rehire Pol Espargaro to resume on-track testing responsibilities.

The arrival of 2020 world champion Joan Mir is likely to force him out of Repsol Honda after only two years (a deal that is not yet signed but is in the final stages).

Espargaro will instead return to the Austrian manufacturer, where he spent four seasons from 2016 to 2020, as well as the Tech3 team, where he began his MotoGP career on Yamaha gear in 2014.

However, who will ride the second Tch3 bike is significantly less certain. It’s no secret that the squad isn’t thrilled with Remy Gardner, one of their current rookie tandem, because of his outspoken statements regarding the health of the team’s 2022 machine – but the Australian is considerably more eager to stay in place than Raul Fernandez on the other side of the box.

He’s just as dissatisfied with the bike as Gardner, but he’s a rising star owing to an unbelievable rookie season in Moto2 in which he won eight races, and he’s thought to be a significant target for Aprilia.

Last weekend, the Italian manufacturer revealed ambitions to grow to four motorcycles for 2023, taking on board the existing Yamaha satellite team WithU RNF in an arrangement that would almost certainly see the riders hired directly by the Noale plant.

Due to Suzuki’s shocking exit from the sport at the end of 2022, not only Mir but also his teammate Alex Rins are still on the rider market for next year, with the Spaniard one of the most likely candidates to join Aprilia’s satellite squad, which is believed to be looking for one experienced rider and one relative rookie for the team’s first season with the Italian brand.

Rins is also a possible target for Lucio Cecchinillo’s LCR Honda satellite squad, with Alex Marquez’s future uncertain. Initially thought to be on his way out following a poor start to 2022, there have been new signs that he may yet be granted a stay of execution — but that if he does, Rins is a strong contender to succeed him.