Month: June 2016

Miguel Oliveira saw the Dutch GP end in the 15th position in a taugh race for the portuguese who departs from the 4th line of the grid on the 11th place. The rider from Leopard Racing make a good start but in the first lap one contact with other rider took him to 21^st. After that, an additional effort was necessary and he needed to do another race from back to top. Miguel Oliveira sums one more point to the championship in a race that was one lap shortened because of the rain.

“It was a difficult race. I made a good start but at the first corner on the left (Turn 5) I had contact with another rider and almost fell. I rallied and I had to make up several positions. " Started the Portuguese rider who, nonetheless, after three laps of the incident was fighting for the points. “ It was difficult to pick up the pace and, when I climbed back into the points, it started to rain. Also I never felt 100% with the bike so I tried my best in that condition.” It should be recalled that the rider from Almada is still the best rookie of this category.

“Now I want to move forward and face the next race in Sachsenring.” Ended Miguel Oliveira. The German GP is scheduled to 17^th July.

The Portuguese rider secures his best grid spot of the year in Assen, the stage of his second victory last year in Moto3.  A constructive Saturday for Miguel Oliveira at the Dutch GP, the eighth round of the 2016 World Championship at the TT Circuit in Assen. He gave his maximum as always during the time attack and will start Sunday’s race from 11th place thanks to a 1’39.294. It must be recalled that in the first laps, the rider from Leopard Racing run between the top3.

The riders have also faced the difficulties of changing weather conditions, in Qualifying which leads to a shorter session: “We knew these would be tough days because of the weather. We went out immediately with the slick tyres because we had noticed that towards the end of Qualifying of some MotoGP riders had risked the intermediate rubber. We started the session without rushing, then picked up the pace and I was able to make a good lap which earned me the 11th time: the best positioning on the grid this year. "

 Tomorrow at 08:10 Lisbon Time the riders will be back on track for 20 minutes of Warm Up before the lights go out at 11:20 Lisbon Time for the eighth race of the 2016 Moto2 World Championship.

The Portuguese rider from Leopard Racing ended in 12^th in the overall on the first day of practices to round eight of the 2016 championship, in the Assen track. Miguel Oliveira ended the FP1 session with an honourable 10th place, a second from the leader and he improved from the first from the second in the matter of times. At the end of the sessions he explained the good feeling and the will to do a good qualifying which he believes to have the conditions to do it.

 “It was a positive Friday, I was pretty consistent, always very close to the Top 10. This morning I was at first. The signs suggest we are heading in the right direction. We are still not entirely happy with the bike, I think we can still improve on the geometry. We are working a lot on changing direction, which will be critical.” Says the portuguese rider. It must be recalled that from the first to the second session the portuguese improved his mark which shows an evolution and that he is closer from his goal.

For tomorrw, In spite of the uncertainty of the weather the rider expects a good result: “Tomorrow there is the unknown factor of the weather, we hope to know how to adapt to the conditions we will encounter.”

Tomorrow practice resumes at 09:55 for the third practice session before Qualifying commences at 14:05 for the intermediate class.

Miguel Oliveira will start from 15th on the grid thanks to his best lap time of 1'50.430 on qualifying session that decided the deployment of the grid on Catalunya GP the seventh round of the 2016 World Championship.

After taking time to learn the new Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Miguel Oliveira has rolled up his sleeves at the decisive moment of qualifications, giving his maximum in the time attack session. It should be recalled that in the morning practices the Portuguese was 16^th but spent most of the time between the top 5: “ "Today we had to learn the new layout. Sector 4 has been modified and as a result, the track became slower. Now it is more difficult to ride because there are more changes of direction. I am satisfied with today's work, the weekend is going better than expected.” Started the rider. “Qualifying also started well, so much so that I improved by 0.6s. Now we analyse the data with the team, I think we can improve the bike further. I'm confident for the race."

Tomorrow the the lights go out at 11:20 (Lisbon Time) for the seventh race of the 2016 Moto2 World Championship.

Also in the rider’s schedule there is the next Monday, 6^th June, for a press conference about the “12 hours of Portimão” at Pestana Palace, Lisboa.

Miguel Oliveira expresses his deepest grief for the loss of Luís Salom and underlines the need to ensure better safety conditions for World Championship riders from Moto GP.

“This is a hard moment for me, for the motorcycling and specially for the family of Luís Salom, with whom all our thoughts, energies and supports are with. As a rider, I expect that the Security Comission can be even more active about track’s security. We are in 2016 and things like this shouldn’t happen at all. This is a sport that, like others, has risks. Today, unfortunately, it was fatal.” Said the Portuguese rider.

Friday’s Moto2 action in Barcelona came to an early end as Luis Salom fell at Turn 12. The session was stopped to ensure he could receive medical attention, tragically the rider lost his life.