AUSSIES TO LOOK FOR AT 2013 PHILLIP ISLAND MOTOGP

The numbers home fans need to look for are 50 - 67 - 95 - 8 - 61, representing Damian Cudlin, Bryan Staring, Anthony West, Jack Miller and Arthur Sissis.

MotoGP - Bryan Staring (#67) and Damian Cudlin (#50)

Both Staring and Cudlin are recent additions to the premier class: West Australian Staring got the call just before this season started to sign up with Fausto Gresini's squad. Cudlin, from Taree in NSW, arrived even later: the Aragon, Spain, race two weeks ago was his first of the year as he replaced Yonny Hernandez at Paul Bird Motorsport.

Cudlin rides a home-grown machine from the British-based Paul Bird Motorsport team. It's a minor miracle that he is there at all: he crashed at Eastern Creek when he was 18 and was told he might never walk again.

Runner-up in the World Endurance Championship last year, Cudlin spent a long apprenticeship in that category and further honed his skills in his adopted homeland of Germany.

He was German Supersport champion in 2010, made his Moto2 debut in that year's German Grand Prix, finishing seventh, and earned a MotoGP debut in Japan in 2011 as stand-in for the great Loris Capirossi on a Pramac Ducati.

Now the 30-year-old has been released from IDM Superbike duties with RAC (Racing Against Cancer) BMW in order to accept the PBM offer to ride in all three long-haul races at season's end.

It hasn't gone exactly to plan: early retirement in Aragon with gearbox trouble on debut for PBM was followed by a bizarre mishap in Malaysia last weekend when a ruptured exhaust left Cudlin with "a seat like a frying pan" and forced him out after seven laps.

Staring has Australian national titles in 125cc, Supersport and Superbike racing, but the MotoGP learning-curve has proved unusually steep for the 26-year-old from Perth.

Staring rides the CRT bike in the Gresini squad as opposed to the faster satellite Honda raced by teammate Alvaro Bautista. Development work and his own apprenticeship are tough.

"If ever we have something new to try I guess that's where things are slowed down," says Staring, "as it's only me doing the laps and I can only do so many laps in a 45-minute session to learn not only the best outcome in terms of that new part while all the time still trying to learn the circuit.

"It's just an absolutely enormous amount of information to take in over the four sessions before you race. I've only got two arms and two legs!"

He's only got two World Championship points as well, picked up when he made it to the end of a Catalunya race that eight other riders failed to finish. Will he be around MotoGP in 2014? Already we have learned that Moto2 front-runner Scott Redding is moving to the Gresini squad next year, so where that leaves Staring remains to be seen.

Moto2 - Anthony West (#95)

Hard to believe, but it's 15 years since Anthony West made his debut there as a 125cc wild card; his last race in Malaysia last weekend was the 200th of his Grand Prix career.

That is a remarkable statistic for two reasons: West has struggled year in, year out to find the machinery and the financial backing to prolong his career. And he is only the second Australian to pass the 200-race milestone, the other being the great Jack Findlay, winner of three premier-class Grands Prix in a 20-year career through the 1960's and 1970's.

Just once has Queenslander West stood on the top step of a World Championship podium, and that was at a wet Assen in the Netherlands a whole decade ago. That success cemented West's enduring 'Rain Man' nickname. "I've always liked big bikes because you can slide them around and use the rear wheel like in dirt track racing," he said. "That's my style, and that's why I can go fast in the rain."

Rescued from relative oblivion by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation last year, West surprised everyone, himself included, with second place at Phillip Island. A repeat might be too much to hope for - he hasn't finished higher than seventh this year - but with Ant West it won't be for want of trying. He has just scored points for the seventh time this year with 13th in that 200th milestone Grand Prix in Malaysia.

Moto3 - Jack Miller (#8) and Arthur Sisis (#61)

Australia's last two hopefuls race in the Moto3 class. The #8 Caretta Technology - Racing Team Germany FTR Honda belongs to another Queenslander, Jack Miller. He likes to call himself 'Aussie Jack' and is in his second full season in the class.

Miller has exceeded expectations this season with no fewer than 11 points-scoring finishes, putting him seventh overall in the Moto3 standings. Malaysia last weekend saw him storm through to the top six in the closing stages and he now stands seventh overall on 89 points.

Whatever else happens this year, Miller's future is secure: he has already been signed by the top squad in the category, Aki Ajo's Red Bull KTM team.

"We are very happy to have signed Jack Miller to ride for us next season," said the man who has guided names like Mike di Meglio, Sandro Cortese and current MotoGP sensation Marc Marquez to world titles. "I think that everyone has seen that he is one of the biggest talents for the future in the World Championship."

Where does Miller's arrival leave current Red Bull KTM Ajo rider Arthur Sissis? The Adelaide youngster rides the #61 bike for that squad this season and must hope for a string of strong results between now and the last race in Valencia to cement his own place. Malaysia didn't provide one: Sissis qualified poorly and finished 19th.

He too produced a surprise podium finish at the Island last year in third place but Indianapolis brought his only top-six result of 2013 so far and he is four places below his compatriot in the overall standings on 59 points.

Among the Aussie quintet, Staring and Cudlin are both seeking to secure a place at the elite level, so expect them to give it their absolute all at their home track. West will no doubt be keen to build on his 200-race foundation, and teenagers Miller and Sissis are equally desperate to make their own way to the top.

The 2013 Tissot Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island officially kicks off today, Friday, October 18, with race day on Sunday, October 20.

For ticket details, bookings or more information visit www.motogp.com.au or call 1800 100 030.