Month: September 2022

Dorna, organizer of the MotoGP World Championship, has revealed the provisional calendar for next year's championship, with 21 races. The Autódromo do Algarve will host the first race of 2023, between the 24th and 26th of March, in a calendar with two new features, Kazakhstan and India.

Unlike in recent years, the Portuguese GP will replace the Qatar GP at the opening of the Championship, largely due to the works on the Qatari circuit. In what will be the season with the most races ever, specifically 21, it will be up to the French GP, between the 12th and 14th of May, to receive the thousandth race in history.

However, the two main news for 2023 are the debuts of the Kazakhstan GP, ​​at the Sokol International Circuit (7-9 July), and the Indian GP, ​​at the Buddh International Circuit (September 22-24), on the calendar.

As is tradition, Valencia receives the last race of the year, between 24-26 November.

MotoGP 2023 provisional calendar

GP Portugal, March 24-26

Argentine GP, 3/31-2/4

GP Americas, April 14-16

GP Spain, 28-30 April

French GP, May 12-14

Italian GP, ​​June 9-11

GP Germany, June 16-18

GP Netherlands, 23-25 ​​June

Kazakhstan GP, ​​July 7-9

GP Great Britain, 4-6 August

GP Austria, 18-20 August

GP Catalunya, 1-3 September

San Marino GP, September 8-10

GP India, 22-24 September

GP Japan, 29-09/01-10

GP Indonesia, 13-15 October

GP Australia, 20-22 October

GP Thailand, October 27-29

GP Malaysia, 10-12 November

Qatar GP, November 17-19

Valencian Community GP, November 24-26

Miguel Oliveira finished the first day of the Thai Grand Prix in the Top 10 of the standings, reaching his best lap precisely on the last lap of FP2.

Contrary to expectations, there was no rain on the first day of the Thai Grand Prix at Buriram. And precisely because of the forecasts, and with no water on the track, FP1 was much better than FP2, as it could have been the only dry session of the day and, perhaps, the entire grand prix, which ended up not happening. At least this Friday…

In this way, the drivers looked for the best times at the beginning to immediately guarantee a theoretical presence in Q2, which meant some falls, as happened, for example, with Marc Marquez and Miguel Oliveira at the beginning of FP1, two falls without physical consequences. and damage to the motorcycle.

With the soft tires at the front and medium at the back, Miguel Oliveira returned from the pits after the scare, but the truth is that he never found the desired rhythm and never occupied the Top 10 of the session after the crash, which made him return to the pits.

In the third time on the track, and already with mediums in front and softs behind, Miguel Oliveira reached his best mark so far, with 1m31s233. But Falcão reached a new best lap and recorded a time of 1m30s756, occupying seventh place in the session. The best time was achieved by Marc Marquez, with 1m30s523.

In FP2, and again without rain, we had a calmer session, as the riders preferred to test some aspects of their bikes before the traditional time attack in the final 7 minutes of the session. Miguel Oliveira reached his best time precisely on the last lap, with 1m30s608, the eighth best time of the day and, therefore, theoretically in Q2, something very real if, on Saturday… it rains.

The best time of the day was achieved by Johann Zarco, with 1m30s281 (1m30s985 in FP1). It should be noted that, in the Top 10, only five drivers improved their times in FP2 compared to FP1.

Program

Saturday, October 01

FP3 – 4:50 am to 5:35 am

FP4 – 8:25 am to 8:55 am

Q1 – 9:05 am to 9:20 am

Q2 – 9:30 am to 9:45 am

Sunday, October 02

WUP – 4:40 am to 5:00 am

Race – 09h00

After Motegi, in Japan, where Miguel Oliveira managed to finish the race in the 5.ª position, it will happen another MotoGP weekend on Asian soil, this time in Buriram, Thailand. The 17th round of the championship thus takes place in Southeast Asia, between September 30th and October 2nd, at about 400km from the Thai capital Bangkok, after a two-year break due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Miguel Oliveira returns to the circuit where he left a positive mark, namely in Moto2 category, where he managed to step on the podium in 2018, the 3rd place. In 2019, already in MotoGP, for Red Bull KTM Tech3 Racing, Oliveira passed the checkered flag in 16th, outside the points.

The MotoGP entourage then prepares to face a weekend under extremely hot and humid weather, as is usual in Thailand, on a track characterized by its 4,554 meters of perimeter, spread over 12 corners: five left and seven right.

This Sunday's race is scheduled for 26 laps, totalizing a distance of 118.4 km and will take place at 09:00 am, mainland Portugal time.

GP Buriram Schedule:

Friday, September 30

FP1 – 04:50-05:35

FP2 – 09:05-09:50

Saturday, October 01

FP3 – 04:50-05:35

FP4 – 08:25-08:55

Q1 – 09:05-09:20

Q2 – 09:30-09:45

Sunday, October 02

WUP – 04:40-05:00

Race – 09:00

In the first race of the Asian stage of the second half of the MotoGP World Championship, Miguel Oliveira shone in Japan, with the Portuguese finishing the Japanese race in Motegi in fifth position, in what was his second race on the Japanese circuit in the queen stage of motorcycling ( was 12th in 2019, in its debut in the category).

Unlike Saturday, when we had a day with excessive rain, which caused, for example, the cancellation of FP3, the Sun returned to the Motegi circuit on Sunday.

On the starting grid in eighth position, and after showing his frustration with his KTM at the Aragon GP last week, Miguel Oliveira made a cannon start and ended the first lap in fourth place, behind Brad Binder and ahead of Marc Marquez, who had achieved pole position.

With hard tires at the front and back, Hawk put the pressure on and, on the 20th lap, overtook his teammate, occupying a place in the race that he had not had in the World Cup for a long time.

Binder's response, who started from third place on the starting grid, came four laps later, with Oliveira being overtaken by the South African, at a time when Jack Miller and Jorge Martin increased their advantage in the fight for victory.

Despite the pressure from Falcão, Binder managed to hold the position, with Miguel Oliveira being forced to keep his place in the final five laps due to Marquez's attack, who overtook the Portuguese on the 21st lap.

With the riders looking for positions in the final two laps, Luca Marini even passed Miguel Oliveira on the last lap, but Hawk responded immediately and secured fifth position brilliantly, while his teammate finished in second position after overtaking Jorge Martin on the penultimate lap. The triumph went to Jack Miller, the sixth driver to win a race in 2022.

Top 10:

Jack Miller, 42m29s174

Brad Binder, +3s409

Jorge Martin, 4s136

Marc Marquez, +7s784

MIGUEL OLIVEIRA, +8s185

Luca Marini, 8s348

Maverick Vinales, 9s879

Fabio Quartararo, 10s193

Enea Bastianini, 10s318

Marco Bezzacchi, 16s419

With the fifth place, Hawk repeats the classification of the GP Portugal, his best classification of the year if we exclude the triumph in the GP of Indonesia, second stage of the World. At the Worlds, Miguel Oliveira occupies the 11th position, with two points less than Alex Rins.

The MotoGP caravan is now traveling to Thailand, with the Chang International Circuit hosting the 17th round of the World Championship next Sunday, October 2nd.

Thailand GP schedule:

Friday, September 30th:

FP1: 4h50-5h35

FP2: 9:05 am to 9:50 am

Saturday, October 1:

FP3: 4h50-5h35

FP4: 8:25-8:55

Q1: 9:05 am to 9:20 am

Q2: 9:30 am to 9:45 am

Sunday, October 2:

WUP: 4h40-5h00

Race: 9:00 am

Saturday of the Japanese Grand Prix was marked by… rain. As expected, typhoon Nanmadol left its mark and ended up postponing the day's sessions and canceling FP3 MotoGP, for example. With the wet track, Miguel Oliveira secured 8th position on the starting grid.

In a day that promised to be full, as is natural on Saturdays of grand prix, the rain ended up completely changing the agenda in Motegi. In MotoGP, it all started with FP2, which had worse times than the first session, which took place on Friday and… without rain. But Miguel Oliveira proved once again that he is top with a wet track, as the rider from Almada occupied the Top 5 for most of the 45-minute session.

The Portuguese's best time was achieved in the final five minutes of FP2, when Miguel Oliveira, with medium tires at the front and soft at the back, recorded 1m55s428, 0s196 more than Marc Marquez, who reached the best time of FP2 with a time of 1m55s232.

With no driver improving his FP1 time, Hawk ended up reaching the desired QP2, since, in the first session, he had finished in ninth position with 1m44s743, 0s234 more than the best of the day, Jack Miller, with 1m44s509. To get an idea of ​​the difficulty of this Saturday, the worst rider on Friday, the Japanese TakuyaTsuda, recorded a time of 1m46s718, that is, almost 9 seconds faster than Miguel Oliveira on Saturday.

The problem is that shortly afterwards the rain returned in force, specifically during QP2 of Moto2, with the session being interrupted with 9m37 to go. With the riders and teams in the pits, everyone patiently waited for Dorna’s final decision, which, about 1h40 later, decided to open the track again for the end of the session, at the same time announcing the cancellation of MotoGP FP3, but the completion of QP1 and QP2, which started about 1h05 minutes after the stipulated time.

In QP2, Miguel Oliveira reached the eighth position, after having suffered a fall in the final minutes in the third sector, precisely when, in the first two, he registered time for pole position. Hawk reached a time of 1m55m895, 0s681 more than Marc Marquez (1m55s214), who took pole again after about 1000 days (the last, curiously, was precisely in the 2019 Japan GP). If it wasn't for the crash, Miguel Oliveira would possibly fight for the first three places in the Japan GP, ​​as the Portuguese is an excellent driver on a wet track…

With Miguel Oliveira in eighth position, the race has the following schedule for Sunday (of course, if the rain allows, although the forecasts are positive regarding the weather):

Sunday, 25th of September

Warm UP – 2:40 am to 3:00 am

Race – 07:00

After a break in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, MotoGP finally returned to Japan, precisely five days after the Aragon GP in Spain.

On the first day of the 16th round of the World Championship, and after finishing in Spain in 11th position, Miguel Oliveira, who has already achieved second place in Moto3 and third place on the podium in Moto2 at the Japanese circuit, made the best of the extra minutes of FP1, since, in the Japanese stage, FP4 was discarded, which meant a first session held in the afternoon in Japan and lasting 1h15 instead of the usual 45 minutes.

With a forecast of heavy rains and winds above 150 km/h for Saturday due to the typhoon Nanmadol that devastates Japan and which will also pass through the Twin Ring Motegi Racetrack, it was essential to finish this Friday in the top ten places of the classification, for this way to secure a theoretical place in the qualification 2.

This was the objective of the pilot from Almada throughout FP1, who used a large part of the session to test options with a focus on his best time. Throughout much of FP1, Miguel Oliveira used medium-medium tires and walked between 8th and 15th positions. However, with about 20 minutes remaining, Hawk, already on medium-soft tyres, climbed to third position with a time of 1m45s193, later improving with 1m45s064, but dropping one place in the standings, precisely behind the World Championship leader, Fabio Quartararo

In the final 10 minutes, and as usual, attacks followed one another and Miguel Oliveira dropped drastically in the standings, but recovered and ended up finishing FP1 in 9th position, with 1m44s743, 0s234 more than the best of the day, Jack Miller, with 1m44s509. It should be noted that the first four places ended the session separated by 68 thousandths…

Therefore, a positive day for Hawk, who most likely assured his presence in Q2, thus guaranteeing a theoretical place in the Top 12 on the starting grid of the Japan GP.

Japan Grand Prix​:

Saturday, September 24

FP2 – 02:50-03:35

FP3 – 06:25-06:55

Q1 – 07:05-07:20

Q2 – 07:30-07:45

Sunday, 25th of September

WUP – 02:40-03:00

Race – 07:00

Starting from this Friday on, September 23, begins an almost uninterrupted sequence of four weekends of MotoGP races outside Europe, namely in Japan, Thailand, Australia and Malaysia. Miguel Oliveira, as well as the rest of the MotoGP caravan, then heads to the East for the final sprint until the 20th and final round of the championship, in Valencia, Spain.

The first stage of this eastern round will take place in Japan, this weekend, between the 23rd and the 25th of September, at the Motegi circuit, which is characterized by its 4,800-meter perimeter, spread over 14 turns: six lefts and eight right.

In what will be the first 'out of hours' GP in this second half of the MotoGP calendar, Miguel Oliveira takes in his luggage another five points collected in Aragon, Spain, thus totalizing 95 points and 11th place, in the general classification of the championship.

It is recalled that since 2019 there have been no races in Motegi, Japan, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. That year, the rider from Charneca de Caparica was 12th on the Japanese circuit.

This Sunday's race is scheduled for 24 laps, totalizing a distance covered of 115.2 km and will take place at 07:00 am, mainland Portugal time.

GP Motegi timetable:

Friday, 23rd of september

FP1 – 07:05-08:20

Saturday, 24th of september

FP2 – 02:50-03:35

FP3 – 06:25-06:55

Q1 – 07:05-07:20

Q2 – 07:30-07:45

Sunday, 25th of september

WUP – 02:40-03:00

Race – 07:00

Miguel Oliveira held today the 15th race of the MotoGP world championship, at MotorLand, in Aragon, Spain. After a generally troubled start by the peloton, the portuguese rider, who started from the 4th row of the grid, managed to settle in eighth position, where he rode for about nine crossings across the finish line. However, he ended the race in 11th place, after several battles on the asphalt in search of the highest sum of points to pass the checkered flag.

The day began with the usual warm-up session, in which Miguel Oliveira ran 11 laps, having had his best record of the session on the seventh pass, 20th on the timesheet, with 1m49s169.

Mentally confident for the race, the rider from Almada made a good start from 11th position on the starting grid, which corresponds to the fourth row, and managed to climb several positions right away until eighth, to fight with Johann Zarco for seventh position during nine laps. Despite the very troubled start of the race, with two major incidents on the first lap, Oliveira managed the moment in the best way and gained space to start his race towards the goal set the day before – fighting for a top-5 spot.

Disputed over 23 laps, totalizing about 120km of distance covered, Miguel Oliveira's race took place with his KTM RC16 mounted on hard and medium tires (front and rear) and was marked by the duels with Frenchman Zarco and the Italian Luca Marini and later with Alex Rins and Marco Bezzecchi, who pushed him to 11th place.

Miguel Oliveira ends the race with five more points in his portfolio, now totalizing 95 points, which keeps him in 11th position in the overall standings of the championship.

The entire MotoGP caravan is now heading to Motegi, in Japan, where the 16th round of the championship will take place between the 23rd and 25th of September.

Miguel Oliveira managed today the 11th best time in qualifying session 2, for which he was qualified early in the morning, right in FP3, when he set the seventh best mark of the session. He showed his surprising race pace in FP4, training that he led categorically from start to finish and, in the qualification session, managed to qualify to leave the fourth row, for what will be the 15th race of the season, which this end of week takes place in Aragon, Spain.

At the beginning of the morning, in what was the third free practice session of the weekend, very windy, Miguel Oliveira managed to improve his mark from the previous day, setting his best time in seventh position, at 1m47s224, just +0.232 that the best time of this session. The rider from Almada managed to run 18 laps, the 16th being his best ‘chrono’, when he already had medium-soft tires, front and rear, respectively – something that the previous day he had expressed wanting to continue experimenting with.

In FP4, the portuguese rider led the session absolutely, registering the best pace on the track and predicting an equally surprising race pace to take place tomorrow at MotorLand. 1m47s430 was the best mark recorded in this free practice session, where he ran 14 laps, a mark by Falcão from Charneca de Caparica, the fastest rider of this FP4.

Qualified directly for Q2, as he was part of the top-10 of the best combined times of the weekend, Oliveira bet on hard and soft tires (front and rear), a choice that allowed him to manage his passages through the finish line with the 11th best record, in 1m47s183. He will thus leave the fourth row of the starting grid, for this Sunday's race, with a time scheduled for 1p.m – mainland Portugal time.

The first of three days that make up the 15th round of the MotoGP world championship officially began today, Friday, this time at the Spanish track in Aragon, better known as MotorLand. Miguel Oliveira, who last week tested his RC16 at Misano, arrived in Spain with more certainty about the setup of his KTM and with the attitude that he will be able to fight for top positions, which will allow him to return to the top-10 of the general classification of the championship.

On a day dedicated to experimenting and choosing the best solutions for his KTM, the pilot from Almada signed the first morning free practice session with the 7th best record, in 1m49s005, just +0s319 from the best time in FP1. Over the course of the 45-minute session, Oliveira made 17 passes across the finish line, on medium-medium tyres, and visited the box twice. But it was on the 7th pass across the finish line that he performed his best 'chrono', at a speed of around 350km/h, thus closing FP1 in seventh place.

In the afternoon, the 27-year-old rider, although he integrated almost the entirety session the provisional top-10 for access to the Qualifying 2 session, closed the 15th best time in FP2 (combined times), running his lap more fast in 1m48s042, after another 17 passes through the finish line. Even so, he improved by about a second his best time recorded in FP1.

The rider from Charneca de Caparica remains confident for the sunny weekend in Aragon, a weekend that marks the return of Marc Marquéz to competition.

Tomorrow, Saturday, Miguel Oliveira will face the second day of the test to carry out the third and fourth free practice sessions, as well as qualifying, which will define his place on the starting grid for Sunday's race, which takes place at 1p.m., mainland Portugal time.

The Aragón GP timetable:

Saturday, september 17th

FP3 – 08:55-09:40

FP4 – 12:30-13:00

Q1 – 13:10-13:25

Q2 –13:35-13:50

Sunday, september 18th

WUP – 08:40-09:00

Race – 13:00