By the standards they have set in the past couple of years, the 2022 MotoGP season has, on the whole, been a rather disappointing one for KTM.

After a quiet start to life in MotoGP after entering the Premier class in 2017, the shortened 2020 and 2021 seasons had seemingly seen the Austrian manufacturer start to establish themselves as a contender for the top prizes.

Claiming five race wins and seven more podiums across the 32 races held between the start of 2020 and end of 2021, the relatively new entrants to the series certainly looked to be heading in the right direction.

However, that trajectory had started to look like it was taking a rather considerable downward turn over the course of this year.

Prior to this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, there had not been a single KTM finish on the podium in a MotoGP race since Miguel Oliveira's victory in a rain-affected Indonesian GP, some 13 races earlier.

That has not been helped by the disastrous rookie campaigns of Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez in the factory's satellite Tech3 team, with the duo, who finished one and two in the Moto2 championship last season, both making their disappointment at their treatment by KTM this season clear at one point or another.

The pair will both be heading for pastures new from the start of next season, leaving a rather sizeable cloud over the factory given the way that situation appears to have been handled.

Meanwhile, the rapid emergence of Aprilia as a race winner, regular podium finishes and even unlikely title contender with Aleix Espargaro, means that KTM had arguably almost become something of the "other" factory competing in MotoGP this season.

But over the weekend in Motegi, things took a turn for the better for KTM, in a way that will give them plenty of hope for the 2023 season, and not just thanks to one of their current riders.

While Jack Miller is all set to make the move to KTM's factory team from the start of next year, the Australian remains a Ducati factory rider for now and, in Motegi, he delivered a long-awaited reminder of just what he can do at this level.

For the first time in 18 months, Miller claimed victory in a MotoGP race at the Japanese GP, doing so in emphatic style.

After fighting his way to the front with just a few decisive moves in little more than a handful of laps at the start of the race, Miller then wasted no time in making himself untouchable at the head of the field, eventually winning by a remarkably comfortable 3.4seconds, to claim his fourth win, and 21st podium in MotoGP.

To have a rider coming into the factory who is so capable of competing at the top of field on such a consistent basis as Miller will be a major boost for KTM, especially considering he is doing so on the back of such a confidence-boosting victory so close to that move.

That lift provided to him by that success - his sixth visit to the podium this season - should therefore stand Miller in good stead to hit the ground running and once again make KTM a threat at the start of season, as this bike has previously shown it can be.

What will have been just as pleasing about that race in Japan for those in charge of the Austrian factory, is that Miller was followed home by the man who will be his teammate next year, and the only current MotoGP KTM rider who will still be with the factory next year, in Brad Binder.

The second place taken by Binder in Japan, was his first podium since securing the same result in the opening race of the season at Qatar, all the way back in March.

For much of this season, there has been a sense that poor qualifying on the Saturday has hindered both Binder and his factory teammate Miguel Oliveira when it comes to Sunday's race day.

So for Binder to back up third place qualifying spot on the grid in Japan - his first front row start of the season - with that second-place finish in the race, will send a clear sign to KTM that if they can rectify that qualifying issue, they do have two riders and a bike, all of which have the potential to be competitive on a race day.

Given they are bringing in a rider in Miller who certainly knows how to qualify, having started on the front row six times this season, which includes a recent pole position at Misano, there may also be a hope that the arrival of the Australian can go some way to addressing that issue, and further strengthening their position for those all-important race days.

Indeed, with Oliveira - the man Miller is set to replace in KTM's factory team next season - also backing up an eighth in qualifying with a solid fifth in the Sunday's race, there were signs of promise all round for the factory, in terms of getting positive results from both of their top-tier riders at the same time.

It seems, therefore, that as we approach the end of a 2022 season that many at KTM would likely rather put behind them, events in Japan over the weekend, mean there is at least plenty for them to look forward to in 2023.