Month: March 2019

After a good debut in the premier class of the MotoGP World Championship, Miguel Oliveira is ready to return to action in what will be the second round of the 2019 season.

Almada's Portuguese rider maintains his goal for his second race at the Argentina Gran Premio and focuses on reaching a position that allows him to score at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit in Argentina.

"This circuit will be the first one in which I will ride without testing it first. I believe we will need to have a different approach, because we need to adapt quickly to the conditions of the track and its layout. I know and really like this track and this will allow us to discover the bike better. I am confident it will be a positive weekend. We will keep the same focus and goals and we will fight for the points as we did in Qatar. For now, this is my focus: to continue to improve my riding, improve with the team, the bike and the whole setup. I feel confident and ready to fight again." Miguel Oliveira

Hervé Poncharal, team manager, said he considered the first race of the MotoGP world championship and for the rider Miguel Oliveira to be a very interesting race, in which the rider was able to learn a lot. According to him, the last seven to eight laps were complicated and claims to be part of the learning process of a MotoGP rookie.

The Red Bull KTM Tech3 duo has not yet tested on the Argentine circuit, but the team's manager remembers the good memories and sensations experienced in the last season and says that the team is motivated with the start of this great prize and with what we can expect. For Hervé Poncharal, the MotoGP grid has never been so competitive, emphasizing that the team's goals are to reach the points.

Yesterday took place the Qatar Grand Prix of the MotoGP calendar.

The Red Bull KTM Tech3 rookie started the race with a few setbacks, but quickly solved the situation by getting up some positions, reaching and maintaining the thirteenth place for a couple of laps. The Almada rider was during some moments of the race the best KTM rider, running ahead of his team-mate Hafizh Syahrin, as well as the drivers Johann Zarco and Pol Espargaro.

Due to the wear of the KTM RC16’S rear tire, Miguel Oliveira lost some positions in the last laps of the race, finishing it in seventeenth place. The rider did not score in what was his first race in the premier class of the MotoGP World Championship, but he’s feeling confident for the next race.

"It was an interesting race. My engine stopped on the starting grid and I had to restart the pit lane, aligned last, but despite this small setback I kept calm and made a good start and a great first lap, where I passed in 14th on the first pass through the finish line. I was very surprised by the performance of the bike at the beginning of the race and managed to stay and defend myself within the group. It's a pitty that only with seven/eight laps left my rear tire has lost its yield and then there was not much else I could do because the tire was completely degraded. I could not finish in the points. I felt that today was a day where I had a lot of capacity, yet we could not make the tire last the entire race. We leave here with the positive fact that we’re of being competitive and have the potential to be faster. At the end of it all, finishing at 16 seconds is not negative and the team is happy. Now we are going to work to make better in Argentina. My dream today came true, I did my first MotoGP race. I fought with what I had and I am sure we will still have many joys with my KTM.” Miguel Oliveira

The next race will take place at the Circuit of Termas de Rio Hondo, Argentina, on the weekend of March 29-31.

Race Results:

1. A. Dovizioso (Ducati)

2. M. Marquez (Honda) + 0.023s

3. C. Crutchlow (Honda) + 0.320s

17. M. Oliveira (KTM) + 16,377s

Miguel Oliveira will start from the seventeenth position in what is his first grand prix in the premier class of the MotoGP World Championship.

On this windy and intense qualifying saturday, the day started at the Losail International Circuit with the first free practices of the day, in which the portuguese rider won an amazing tenth place, being one of only three riders to improve his best time compared to FP2. In the third free practice session, Miguel Oliveira had his best time in minute 1: 55.557, just +0.880 of first-place finisher Marc Marquez.

The Red Bull KTM Tech3 rookie improved in every session and performed well in what was his first ever qualifying in the premier class.

The fourth session of free practice was marked by a slower pace by the Almada driver, who managed to reach the sixteenth place of the session, when he made his best time in minute 1: 56.011, +1.157 of Danilo Petrucci, the first classified.

After finishing Q1 in seventh position, followed by Rossi, Lorenzo and Espargaro, Miguel Oliveira will start tomorrow’s race from the 6th line of the starting grid.

"It was my intention to improve my lap time, but on the last exit there was a bit of confusion with the riders in front and that did not allow me to make a clean lap to the maximum. I'm a bit disappointed with that, however, I'm also quite happy to start tomorrow’s race from the sixth line of the starting grid! I think it's a good start for our first race as we get close to our first goal, which is ending up the race inside the points. Let's wait for tomorrow." Miguel Oliveira

The first MotoGP round of the 2019 season is scheduled to start tomorrow, Sunday, at 17.00 CET.

Qualifying Results:

1. M. Viñales (Yamaha) 1: 53.546

2. A. Dovizioso (Ducati) 1: 53,744 +0.198

3. M. Marquez (Honda) 1: 53,745 +0.199

4. J. Miller (Ducati) 1: 53,809 +0.263

5. F. Quartararo (Yamaha) 1: 53,946 +0.400

17. M. Oliveira (KTM) 1: 55,122 +0.852

The 2019 season has officially started with the first two free practice sessions held today at the Losail International Circuit, in Qatar.

The Losail International Circuit is the first round of the MotoGP World Championship, which will happen this weekend. Located about 30 km from Doha, the Qatar Grand Prix is ​​without a doubt one of the most extraordinary events on the MotoGP calendar.

Rookie Miguel Oliveira showed some promising potential on his first day aboard the KTM RC16, finishing in the top 20, having improved his time by 0.426s from the first to the second session of practices. The rider finished ahead of his team-mate, Hafizh Syahrin, in both free practices.

The first practice session took place in the morning, where the portuguese rider made his best time in minute 1:56.061, closing the time table in the eighteenth position, only 1m013s behind first-place finisher Valentino Rossi.

In the evening session, Miguel Oliveira managed to improve his morning times, reaching his best time of 1'55.635s, 2'255s of first-place finisher Marc Marquez.

In the combined time table (FP1 + FP2) he achieved the 20th best time.

“Today was quite tricky at the end. We knew that FP2 was going to be important and everyone was pushing to get a fast lap but finally, we couldn’t take out the full profit of the tyre we had. We are trying to understand what we can improve on the bike to gain more drive out of the corners, which seems to be the thing, that is holding us back more. But I trust that tomorrow we still can do a good FP3 and maybe be a little bit more in front. For sure, we are far from Q2, but we are going to try the maximum to be closer.” Miguel Oliveira

The qualifying for the first grand prix of the season takes place tomorrow, saturday, with Miguel Oliveira's FP3 scheduled to start at 12:15 pm. Qualifications of the premier class are set at 5:00 p.m.

Results – Combined Training (FP1 + FP2)

1. M. Marquez (Honda) with 1min53,380s

2. M. Viñales (Yamaha) with 1min53.854s + 0.474s

3. J.Miller (Ducati) with 1min53.908s + 0.528s

4. D. Petrucci (Ducati) with 1min54.053s + 0.673s

5. F. Quartararo (Yamaha) with 1min54.154s + 0.774s

20. Miguel Oliveira (KTM) with 1min55.635s + 2.255s