Month: April 2017

For the third consecutive race, Miguel Oliveira managed to score points in the Moto2 championship. In a first appearance for the KTM Moto2 bike at the Circuit of The Americas, Miguel Oliveira achieved a meritorious sixth position, adding 10 more points to his tally and maintaining third position in the overall standings.

Starting from seventh place, Miguel Oliveira gained a position on the first lap. The Portuguese climbed to fifth thanks to a crash from another rider, and defended the position upon seeing that riders ahead of him had broken free. He would eventually concede the place 7 laps from the end, having made a mistake on the entry to Turn 1.

With this third round of the season concluded, Miguel Oliveira has a total of 43 points and lies in third position in the overall standings.

Miguel Oliveira

"It was a tough race. We knew from yesterday that our pace was not the best -at least to fight for victory. I started quite well and was able to get close to the front of the race. But the truth is that I was not fast enough. I couldn't catch them, I had my pace in the high 2:10s, but couldn't keep in the low 2:10s. When I realised that, I was content to defend the fifth position. Unfortunately, I skipped a gear going into the first corner and Aegerter passed me. I tried to hold out a little but was not close enough to overtake him.

Overall, this was an important weekend for gathering data about the bike and discovering points that we need to improve. We continue to work hard. Now we are off to Europe, and tracks for which we have more data and have ridden more. We need to keep our chins up, as the work that the team are doing is very good."

Aki Ajo – Team Manager

"Finally, it has been a positive weekend for our Moto2 structure. The performance was not like what we had in Argentina, and we have to accept this, but it is normal, because this is a very different and new track for us, at which we debuted with the KTM. The results have been positive: Both the sixth position for Miguel [Oliveira] and the points for Ricky [Cardus]; We have to be happy. It has not been an easy weekend but it is necessary to have these difficult times to learn, understand and improve this project."

Results (Race)

1. Franco Morbidelli (Kalex) 41:20.078

2. Thomas Luthi (Kalex) +2.633

3. Takaaki Nakagami (Kalex) +6.809

4. Alex Marquez (Kalex) +9.852

5. Dominique Aegerter (Suter) +10.927

6. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +13.029

14. Ricky Cardus (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +24.245

Moto2 World Championship Standing 2017

1. Franco Morbidelli (Kalex) 75 points

2. Thomas Luthi (Kalex)  56 points

3. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 43 points

4. Takaaki Nakagami (Kalex) 32 points

5. Xavi Vierge (Tech3) 25 points

16. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 7 points

21. Ricky Cardus (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2 points

Miguel Oliveira will start the Moto2 Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas tomorrow from the third row of the grid. The Portuguese rider continued with his good feeling from Friday in the second day of action in Austin, improving his times and reaffirming himself as one of the riders with the best pace ahead of the race.

Multiple crashes in the MotoGP FP3 session, due to low track temperatures, caused the Moto2 riders to go out with caution in their first run of the day. In spite of this, as the minutes went by they began to lower their lap times from Friday. As he did yesterday, Miguel Oliveira set a great last lap that placed him second fastest, with a time of 2:10.306.

In qualifying, the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider followed a completely different strategy compared to the Free Practice session. Oliveira came out strong, setting his best laps on the third attempt and placing in fourth -2:10.317 – position. Oliveira repeated his best lap of the entire weekend. In the end, he would have had to settle for seventh on the grid.

Tomorrow, starting at 12.20pm local time, Oliveira will fight to get the best possible result in the 19 lap race. He has a chance to get Red Bull KTM Ajo's second podium in the class – following the maiden rostrum in Argentina.

Results (Qualifying Practice)

1. Franco Morbidelli (Kalex) 2:09.379

2. Mattia Pasini (Kalex) 2:09.546 +0.167

3. Alex Marquez (Kalex) 2:09.621 +0.242

4. Takaaki Nakagami (Kalex) 2:09.960 +0.581

5. Thomas Luthi (Kalex) 2:09.980 +0.601

7. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:10.317 +0.938

The Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas started well for the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 riders. After taking his first Grand Prix podium in the class in Argentina a fortnight ago, Miguel Oliveira was the fastest man in FP1 and fourth overall for the two Free Practice sessions held on Friday.

The first 45-minute session in Austin was positive for Oliveira. He dedicated the first run to starting work on the setup of his KTM for the track, using hard tyres. It was after his only stop in the garage that the Portuguese, running the soft tyre, surprised the rest of the grid by setting the best time of 2:11.606 on his final lap.

The Portuguese had to wait until his second stint in FP2 to be able to lower his previous best time. He sought to find the optimum pace for the race, and it was on his final lap that he clocked a 2:11.223 to go fourth. Qualifying for the Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas takes place tomorrow. Oliveira was the poleman in Argentina.

Results (Combined practice time FP1-FP2)

1. Alex Marquez (Kalex) 2:10.601

2. Franco Morbidelli (Kalex) 2:10.901 +0.300

3. Marcel Schrotter (Suter) 2:10.906 +0.305

4. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:11.223 +0.622

5. Thomas Luthi (Kalex) 2:11.226 +0.625

Miguel Oliveira successfully hit his target for day one of the Argentinian Grand Prix, placing inside the Top 5 on Friday. The portuguese, who had set the goal before arrival at Termas de Rio Hondo, was the fifth fastest on the combined timesheet after taking an important step forward in FP2.

In the first runout on track for the KTM Moto2 bike in Argentina, Miguel Oliveira focused on putting in as many laps as possible. He managed 21 and did long stints with just a single pit stop each in order to give his crew as much feedback as possible. Oliveira was eighteenth -1:46.084 – just ahead of his teammate.

With a cleaner surface for FP2, he took just two laps to lower his times from the morning session. However, it was on his last two laps that Oliveira set his best times of the day, and his penultimate 1:44.498 earned him fifth place on a tightly packed timesheet.

"It was a very positive first day here in Argentina. We started off on the wrong foot a little, because we came out with the setup we had from Qatar as a reference. As soon we arrived here we saw that we would have to change things, because the conditions were a little different than we expected. We found it a little hard to adjust in the first session, or understand the direction to take to find grip, but at the end of the second session we were able to do a good job. We were also able to go fast with the tyres that we will in theory use in race, so I am happy with the work done by the team today."

The weather forecast for Saturday indicates rain for the first qualifying session of the season -the Qatar session was cancelled due to adverse conditions-, which takes place at 3:05pm local time.

Results (Combined practice time FP1-FP2)

1. Franco Morbidelli (Kalex) 1:44.188

2. Marcel Schrotter (Suter) 1:44.337 +0.149

3. Takaaki Nakagami (Kalex) 1:44.414 +0.226

4. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Kalex) 1:44.447 +0.259

5. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:44.498 +0.310

22. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:45.152 +0.964

The Moto2 World Championship makes the 13,000km trip from Asia to South America, as the series moves on from Qatar to Argentina for the second Grand Prix of the season. Miguel Oliveira will be back onboard his new KTM Moto2 bike, which have already proven to be capable of taking him amongst the frontrunners.

The Termas de Rio Hondo circuit will host a World Championship for the fourth time in its history this weekend. Oliveira have contested all three previous editions, and after the fourth place in the opening round of the season, Oliveira aims to reaffirm himself as one of the fastest riders on the grid and compete for a podium spot. He finished twenty-first last year, and still holds the Moto3 circuit record at the Argentinian track.

"After the great results we got in Qatar, I think the team's goal for this weekend should be to place at least in the Top 5. That’s our goal for the whole weekend. The circuit is one of the most spectacular on the entire calendar. It's also a circuit that is pretty good for me, and I still hold the lap record there in Moto3 that has been in place since 2015. I like it a lot. We just have to work just as well as we did in the first race and preseason. I’m focused on improving small aspects of my riding and try to be as precise as possible to have a good weekend."

The Grand Prix schedule returns to its usual format, running from Friday to Sunday. The Moto2 race is scheduled for 2:20pm local time on Sunday. Rain may once again be an unwanted guest according to weather forecasts, just as happened last year.

Circuit information – Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo

Length: 4.806 m / 2.986 miles

Width: 16 metres

Left corners: 5

Right corners: 9

Longest straight: 1.076 m / 0.669 miles

Constructed: 2008

Modified: 2012