The MotoGP season is about to get under way, with a record 21-race season kicking off at the undulating Portimão circuit in Portugal on Sunday, local time.
If you're new to MotoGP, it's essentially a group of jockey-sized riders engaged in a high-octane, thrill-a-second spectacle of death-defying riding at close quarters on monstrously large, high-spec machines with enough torque to rip your shoulders out of their sockets.
MotoGP differs from World Superbikes in that these are bikes not based on those that you can wheel out of the showroom and ride: They are super-charged. Think two-wheeled Formula 1, but with overtaking.
Jack Miller will once again be flying the flag for Australia, this year riding for a new team — the factory Red Bull KTM — after five years piloting a Ducati.
Here's everything you need to know about MotoGP 2023.
Jack Miller swaps Ducati for KTM
Aussie star Miller — winner of four premier-class grands prix — will take on a new challenge this season after signing for the Red Bull KTM Factory Team on a multi-year deal to partner South African Brad Binder.
And judging on pre-season testing times alone, it might well be a challenge to be competitive.
Miller had plenty of success with Ducati, winning three races over the past two seasons and nine other podium finishes as he claimed fourth and fifth in the overall championship standings.
The move is a gamble for Miller, who is moving from the strongest bike on the grid to a KTM team that acknowledges it has lots of work to do to be competitive.
That has been reflected in pre-season testing, with Miller struggling to make an impression on the timing boards, finishing almost a second down around the same circuit that the season will start on this weekend at the last test a fortnight ago.
Team boss Francesco Guidotti told MotoGP.com that the team was "not happy" with what it had seen from the bike, adding that Miller was "slow" so far, but his confidence with the bike was improving.
Given he has only had six days on the new machine thus far, you'd expect some steady improvement throughout the season.
His is one of 12 rider changes in a busy off-season that is sure to shake things up around the paddock.
Are there any other Australians in the championship?
Last year, former Moto2 World Champion Remy Gardner joined Miller as one of the two Australians in the premier class, racing for KTM's Tech3 team, no less.
However, he was sacked from KTM at the end of the season, telling motorsport.com that he was told by KTM he was "not professional enough".
Gardner — the son of former world champion Wayne Gardner — finished 23rd in the championship last year, with a best race finish of 11th in Catalunya.
The 25-year-old is not competing in MotoGP this season, instead racing for Yamaha in the Superbike World Championship.
There are no other Australians in the premier class, but Nambour teenager Joel Kelso will be suiting-up for his third season in the Moto3 championship, racing for CFMoto Racing Prüstel GP.
Who is going to win the championship?
Last year's MotoGP season will go down as one of the most dramatic and compelling championships of all time.
Francesco 'Pecco' Bagnaia came back from 91-points down to record a thrilling victory in the season finale in Valencia, pipping Frenchman Fabio Quartararo to the title.
It was also Ducati's first title since Australian Casey Stoner won, back in 2007.
He will have a new teammate this year, Enea Bastianini, who is definitely not afraid to use his elbows to muscle in on a minuscule gap at high pace — and has been told that he is free to ride for the championship against his teammate.
In all, four men on the grid have previously won a MotoGP World Championship — Marc Márquez, Joan Mir, Quartararo and Bagnaia — with another nine claiming titles in the minor categories: That's a pretty stacked field.
What is the 25-year curse Bagnaia is hoping to overcome?
As a result of winning the World Championship, Bagnaia will swap his personalised number 63 with the World Championship winner's number 1.
He will, in fact, be the first rider in more than a decade — since Stoner in 2011 — to use the number 1.
"It's been a long time since we last saw the number 1 in MotoGP. I've always admired people racing with the number 1. I've always loved it," Bagnaia told MotoGP.com.
"Respecting the fact that you are World Champion is right.
"Number 1 represents who you are. It represents your identity as World Champion. So, it's important for me to pay tribute to other World Champions."
The thing is, there is something of a curse around the wearing of the number 1.
No rider since Australian Mick Doohan in 1998 has ever won a world championship with the number 1 on his bike.
Stoner tried it in 2012, but was pipped by Jorge Lorenzo, and Marc Márquez (with the number 93) successfully defended his title four times over a seven-year period.
Joan Mir (36) and Quartararo (20) also kept their numbers for their title defence.
What's the deal with sprint races?
Those 21 grands prix — 11 of which take place in the sport's European heartland — will each include a half-distance sprint race on the Saturday of race week.
This is a change from the norm, and is in direct response to a fan survey on how to improve race weekends.
Sprint races are not new. Superbikes have been using them regularly since 2019, while Formula 1 introduced them in 2021.
The half-distance races, which carry half-value world championship points, will shake up the World Championship significantly — and Jack Miller could benefit hugely, given his aggressive riding style early in GP races last season.
When is the Australian Grand Prix?
Aussie fans will have to wait until October 20-22 before they can see MotoGP on their doorstep.
The Phillip Island circuit in Victoria will host this year's race, just as it has done regularly since the late-1990s.
At last year's race — the first in two years owing to the COVID-19 pandemic — Miller crashed out of the race after being hit by Álex Márquez at turn four, which had been renamed the Jack Miller corner that very weekend.
Miller has one podium finish at Phillip Island in the premier class, third in the pre-COVID season of 2019.
He did win the Moto3 race at the circuit in 2014 on his way to second place overall in the championship that season, pipped to the title in the final race of the season by Álex Márquez.
