Year: 2023

The world of motorcycling is about to witness a new era of competition and excitement. The American team Trackhouse Racing, known for their impressive feats in the NASCAR Cup series, announced their expansion to the MotoGP scene. This remarkable debut will be made as an independent team from the Italian manufacturer Aprilia, using the RS-GP MotoGP prototypes.

The announcement was made via livestream from Milan. Justin Marks, founder and owner of Trackhouse, joined on stage with Massimo Rivola, CEO of Aprilia Racing, Carlos Ezpeleta, Sports Director of Dorna Sports, and Dan Rossomondo, Commercial Director of Dorna, to discuss the details of this new chapter.

The moment many had been waiting for was the reveal of the official bike livery scheduled for the beginning of next season. However, during the launch, the team presented a bike with a symbolic American flag livery, paying tribute to the colors previously used by Nicky Hayden and the rich heritage of motorcycling in the United States.

With the aim of adding to and enriching this heritage, Trackhouse Racing is set to write a new chapter in the history of MotoGP, adopting an innovative approach. The entry of an American team into the championship represents an incredible opportunity for both parties, creating an exciting and new project, grounded in already established success.

Justin Marks expressed his excitement:

"Joining the MotoGP World Championship is a very exciting moment for our young company. From day one, Trackhouse has been dedicated to identifying unique and compelling opportunities in motorsport. Expanding into a global series like MotoGP is a significant step in scaling the company. We are deeply committed to Dorna's mission and dedicated to bringing something new and exciting to the championship, as well as working hard to help grow and amplify this amazing sport to millions of new fans in North America and beyond."

We will be able to witness the start of this new chapter of TrackHouse Racing MotoGP at the first Qatar Grand Prix, starting on March 8th, with the first test in Valencia on November 28th.

On the 16th round of the 2023 MotoGP World Championship, Miguel Oliveira and the CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP team and the entire paddock head to the Phillip Island circuit in Australia, a favorite for riders and teams. The riders head straight to Australian soil, after a hot round in Indonesia, now taking on a new challenge in the Land Down Under, marking the second race of a triple round before Thailand.

Like most riders, the Portuguese is a fan of the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Australia and intends to do his best again this weekend. Indonesia was not linear for Miguel Oliveira, but some steps forward were taken to improve his sensations riding the Aprilia RS-GP. Now the Charneca de Caparica Falcon intends to continue this upward trend.

“Phillip Island is a track I like. It has very fast curves. It's a circuit that inspires me to be the best. I will definitely try my best! After a difficult weekend in Indonesia, it's great to be back on the bike just a few days later, so let's do it!”, says Miguel Oliveira, CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team rider.

The first training sessions on Friday start at 00:45, mainland Portugal time, and the second of the day at 5:00, also Portuguese time. The Sprint takes place at 05:00 on Saturday and on Sunday the long weekend race will take place at 04:00, also mainland Portugal time.

The Portuguese CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team rider Miguel Oliveira did not have a linear weekend at the Mandalika Circuit in Indonesia. Oliveira, as usual, gave his all throughout the three days of the Grand Prix, and especially in Sunday's race in extremely hot weather conditions on the island of Lombok. Still, the Portuguese finished within the points.

Direct ticket to Q2

The Indonesian Grand Prix kicked off on Friday in warm sunshine at the picturesque Mandalika Circuit. Miguel Oliveira, who won the GP last year on this same circuit, which was debuting as part of the MotoGP World Championship, had a promising first day. Despite having a crash in the first FP of the day, the Portuguese rider from Charneca de Caparica managed to be 2.248 seconds faster in the afternoon training session, having held P7 in the general classification, which guaranteed him direct access to Q2 , for the following day (Saturday).

"Today was good, finally on the last lap with the soft tires behind I was able to feel strong. There were a lot of yellow flags and I was getting impatient to get my lap. But in the end I managed to do a clean lap. Honestly, I didn't know if it was enough, but I'm happy to move into Q2. We still have some work to do tomorrow morning [Saturday], especially on the pace. Mandalika's layout suits many aspects of our bike, I just need to enjoy it; also I think I can be closer to the factory riders than I am now and that's the goal", said the 28-year-old driver.

Hot and humid Saturday gives Oliveira P12 on the grid

Saturday's day on the Indonesian island of Lombok was quite hot and humid, which meant demanding conditions in this, the 15th round of the MotoGP World Championship.

Miguel Oliveira recorded another drop in practice on Saturday morning, which didn't help him get the most out of the session. Still, direct entry to Q2 was guaranteed. In Q2, Miguel Oliveira managed to lower his times from Friday, although he remained in P12 by a thread, due to some yellow flags and other situations that did not allow him to perform a decent lap. The Portuguese thus started the Sprint in P12, racing away, running in ninth place only after the 4th lap, but had to give up a position two laps later. Oliveira managed to raise his Aprilia to 10th and was out of the points for just one second.

"We definitely took a step forward during today's Sprint race compared to qualifying this morning [Saturday]. I felt better on the bike in the race. For tomorrow [Sunday], I'm confident, I just have to get a good start and gain as many positions as possible from the first lap", commented the Portuguese rider with confidence.

Oliveira within the points of the main race

Miguel Oliveira started from P12 on the starting grid. He achieved his usual "cannon start", immediately placing eighth. He managed to gain a position on the second lap and four laps later he was already fighting for sixth position. In a large group competing for the best points, he lost a few meters on lap 10 and unfortunately on lap 11 he had to open his path a lot due to another rider on the track, having lost some positions. In P16, and five seconds away from being within the points, Miguel Oliveira clenched his fist and fought until the end, crossing the checkered flag in 12th position.

"This week has been difficult. Certainly some of the adjustments we made to the bike helped us understand the feeling I need to ride better, but we discovered that a little late after qualifying, but there have still been some positives since I was able to get in. in Q2. The race pace yesterday [Saturday] wasn't that bad with the soft rear tire. We used the soft tire all weekend and we didn't feel that the medium could have given us more than the soft, but the racing conditions were different and we had to find out for ourselves at the start of the race that the soft tire had been the wrong choice. I also had a little contact with Brad (Binder) which didn't help much. I certainly lost a lot of places with that incident, but I don't think that was the main reason for today's result. I hope to learn from this weekend, take some positives and go to Phillip Island with this information", said Miguel Oliveira.

The CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team now packs its bags heading southeast to Australia, where the Phillip Island Circuit awaits more action for round 16 of 2023.

Having already started this year's international tour of Asia held in India and Japan, Miguel Oliveira and the entire MotoGP paddock are now heading to the Island of Lombok, for the second Indonesian Grand Prix in the history of motorcycling on the International Circuit by Mandalika. In particular, the Portuguese rider from CrytoDATA RNF MotoGP Team was already very happy on the aforementioned circuit, having won the race marked by rain in the circuit's debut Grand Prix.

Oliveira shone in Mandalika and therefore returns to Lombok with confidence and full of enthusiasm. Although the weather conditions during last year's Indonesian GP were quite particular and the Portuguese rider arrives as a rookie aboard his Aprilia RS-GP, the 15th round of 2023 promises to be exciting this weekend.

“The Indonesian Grand Prix brings back a lot of good memories for me. I won the race last year and that only gives me motivation to face this year's race. We are heading into the first round of three consecutive races and it is important to return to our usual form, especially in qualifying performance. I’m confident and eager to get back on the track”, says Miguel Oliveira.

The race weekend begins as usual with the first free practice at 03:45, mainland time, followed by the timed qualifying practice session at 08:00, also mainland time. Lombok is the first round of the upcoming triple stage and the first of two islands the MotoGP World Championship will visit over the next two weeks, with Phillip Island in Australia followed by Buriram in Thailand.

The Japanese Grand Prix, the 14th round of the MotoGP World Championship, started with unusual heat since the entire MotoGP caravan landed in the Land of the Rising Sun. Miguel Oliveira achieved good feelings aboard his Aprilia RS-GP, but the general feeling during the weekend was one of frustration, which culminated in the Portuguese hero's inability to finish the Motegi race.

Friday with rhythm

On the first day of the weekend Miguel Oliveira managed to find a good rhythm along the almost five kilometers of the Mobility Resort Motegi. He set the 16th best time in the first training session, having been mainly focused on achieving the best configuration for his machine. In the afternoon session, Oliveira narrowly missed out on achieving his perfect full lap, due to yellow flags being thrown. Both the Portuguese and his teammate were left out of the top 10 of the qualifying training session, in Miguel's case by just 0.056 seconds.

“I'm not happy with today. I finished 11th and our goal was to be in the top 10. I was going well, but in the last corner I couldn't complete my perfect lap and I also came across yellow flags. I could have been a little faster, but I don't know if it would have been enough. For tomorrow [Saturday], we will obviously try to improve especially in single lap speed. When I used the soft tire midway through the session in the race setting, I was very close to my fastest lap, so there is a lot of room for improvement. We have to get everything together for tomorrow", said the Portuguese driver.

Sprint race in preparation for Sunday

Miguel Oliveira, who narrowly missed out on a direct Q2 entry in Friday's practice session, struggled this Saturday to find the same confidence. The rider from Charneca de Caparica completed qualifying in sixth place, which means he had to line up 16th on the starting grid. At the start of the Sprint, he lost some positions in the first corners, but returned to P16 at the end of the first lap. After eight laps, Oliveira moved up to P15 and recovered another position on lap nine to finish 14th.

“Honestly, it was disappointing today. I had a little more pace, but I remained behind Raul, Augusto (Fernandez) and Franco (Morbidelli), it took a little imagination to try to overtake Franco, which wasn't easy. I finally managed it, but it reduced my pace and I was struggling to maintain the speed. But overall, it was good preparation for tomorrow [Sunday]. We know what we need to improve on the bike in terms of stability coming out of corners to avoid spinning so much and trying to start better, and that is the main objective of tomorrow's race”, shared Miguel Oliveira.

DNF for Miguel Oliveira

The intense and unexpected rain was noticeable this Sunday, just when the weekend's long race, with 24 planned laps, was about to begin. Already in formation on the starting grid, the rain was already noticed by the teams and after the start, and throughout the first lap, it was possible for the riders to change bikes. The rain increased significantly and literally flooded the track halfway through the race, so that it had to be stopped after 12 laps, making it too dangerous for the riders to continue.

Miguel Oliveira, who is usually able to adapt quickly to rainy conditions, once again showed his talent. He started from P16, changed bikes after the first lap and was in P11 at the end of the second lap. He progressed quickly through the field and was already in fifth at the end of the sixth lap, having overtaken another to fourth on the seventh lap. Oliveira had his fists rolled up and was giving it his all, but his helmet visor was filling with water, which led to him stopping at the end of lap 12, having managed to grab a strong sixth position earlier.

“Actually it was running well, the transitions between [red] flags were smooth, without any major problems. I changed bikes and started the race in the wet and I was feeling quite competitive. Then, with more rain I felt even better, the bike was behaving quite well. But then, three laps before retiring, I started having trouble seeing. I couldn't see anything and that never happened to me, I couldn't even see where I was going to put the wheels. There was a lot of water and I told myself to take it easy and not give up. I still covered half a lap, but my race was over. My team pulled the bike into the garage, which made it difficult to get back on the track, but I finally managed to restart from the pit lane, but the race was already over”, commented Miguel Oliveira.

The Portuguese ended up being classified in P18 when the race direction decided that the conditions were too risky to race. The Portuguese rider from CrytoDATA RNF MotoGP Team had to leave Japan without points, but he is already looking forward to the next stage in less than two weeks in Lombok, where he won the first Indonesian Grand Prix last year.

Miguel Oliveira, rider of the CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team, as well as the entire MotoGP paddock has just immersed themselfs in a ‘different world’. Coming from the Indian Grand Prix that took place last weekend, they now enter the traditional Japanese round at the Mobility Resort Motegi, which takes place between September 29th and October 1st. The contrast between India and Japan, as well as New Delhi and Tokyo requires some adaptation, but the Portuguese rider and his entire team are ready and committed to have a good weekend.

With a very difficult weekend in the last round, Miguel Oliveira will try to find a good rhythm again in this 14th round of the MotoGP World Championship. Oliveira finished 12th at the new Buddh International Circuit and wants to improve on that same result at Motegi. Last year, the rider from Charneca de Caparica had good feelings on the Japanese circuit and finished fifth. Now, Miguel Oliveira aims to find that again aboard his Aprilia RS-GP this season.

“After the difficult weekend in India, I'm looking forward to Japan. Mobility Resort Motegi is a track where I was fast last year, so I hope I can be quick again here this season too and find out what we have in hand at this track. with Aprilia”, comments Miguel Oliveira.

The Motegi GP schedule is scheduled to begin on Friday with the first free practice at 02:45, mainland Portugal time, followed by the 60-minute practice session that decides the qualifying entries from 07:00. The time difference between Japan and mainland Portugal is eight hours.

This weekend saw the debut of the entire MotoGP caravan at the Buddh International Circuit, in India, a milstone in the history of motorcycling in what was the 13th round of the MotoGP World Championship. Many adaptation laps, several challenges in the circuit layout and some rain marked the weekend with a learning curve for all riders, including Miguel Oliveira.

Friday of challenges

The Portuguese rider finished in P17 in both training sessions that marked Friday, sessions that were a little longer than usual, anticipating the necessary adaptation of the riders to the new track and the new location of another Grand Prix of MotoGP. From the morning session to the afternoon, Oliveira managed to make a big step and, in the afternoon training, he was 1.556 seconds faster than in the first free training session of the morning.

“Today was a very difficult day, we had more than an hour session in the morning and another in the afternoon. It's not easy to manage, we certainly didn't make maximum effort physically. The morning session was a little complicated to understand where to put the wheels. We tried to do a little more time attacking in the training session, but it was quite challenging in the heat. The track is very technical, there are many braking points where you can't let go too much. Obviously it's a fun track to drive, I especially had fun in the afternoon session and I'm looking forward to tomorrow [Saturday] to take another step forward”, says Miguel Oliveira.

Oliveira crosses the finish line in 12th in the ‘sprint race’

Saturday's rain caused the entire paddock to be stopped for some time to ensure safe track conditions for the riders. For the 'Sprint Race', Miguel Oliveira started from 18th on the starting grid, having achieved an exceptional start, which placed him in P11 after the first lap. Having overtaken when the yellow flag had just been raised, the rider from Charneca de Caparica was forced to give up a position, which made him join a large group of riders and lose a few more positions until P14. With some consistent final laps, he finally saw the checkered flag in P12, after 11 laps of the almost 5 kilometers of the Indian circuit.

“The situation is difficult, we are certainly not able to perform as we expected. There are a lot of slow corners that we need to restart and that isn't helping us much. For some reason, we are not able to be as competitive. It also didn't help that I didn't qualify well for the starting grid. In the Sprint race, I managed to do a little better. But a lot of things happened, I had to give up a position because they told me that I overtook under a yellow flag and I also realized that I was losing oil from the bike, so it wasn't easy today. For tomorrow [Sunday] I want to be competitive and finish in the points with good potential”, says the 28-year-old Portuguese rider enthusiastically.

Race within the points

Both Miguel Oliveira and Raúl Fernandez, CryptoDATA RNF MotogGP Team riders, managed to surpass the team objective, which was to finish the weekend with both riders within the points, with P12 and P10, respectively. Miguel Oliveira fought a little more than his Spanish colleague throughout the weekend. He started from 17th on the grid and was pushed out in the first corner shortly after the start. Even so, he managed to maintain 17th place at the end of the first lap. Over the next few laps, Oliveira made some progress and reached P14 on lap eight, but fell back to P16 again with a mistake two laps later. From then on, Miguel Oliveira rolled his fist, recovered ground and ended up in 12th place, taking home four points in the World Championship.

“It’s probably the first weekend I haven’t been competitive. Anyway, the whole Aprilia had some difficulties this weekend, but I would have liked to have been a little better. We could clearly see where our weaknesses are and where we would need to work and push harder to find solutions, especially the acceleration out of slow corners, which seems to be one of the points we need to focus on. I'm looking forward to changing things a little in Japan and achieving a good performance there”, concludes Oliveira.

Despite some delays and hot and humid temperatures, the Indian GP ended up being a success. Miguel Oliveira finished the weekend within the points, with potential and determination to move on to the next round in Motegi, Japan, in what will be the 14th round of the Championship.

2023 marks the debut year of the Buddh International Circuit, in India, on the MotoGP World Championship calendar. Miguel Oliveira and the entire MotoGP entourage cannot hide their curiosity and enthusiasm around this new track, which was the stage for Formula 1 races a few years ago, and which will become the venue for the first Indian Grand Prix in the history of motorcycling.

Before leaving for Asia, Miguel Oliveira achieved a series of good results in Barcelona and Misano. In his history, the Portuguese rider of the CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team has records of good performances when the MotoGP World Championship reaches completely new tracks, so the CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team hopes to help him continue on that same path this weekend in India.

“The Indian circuit will be a challenge at all levels for us, riders, machines and team. I believe we can do a good job and we are focused on rapid and efficient adaptation. The objective continues to be the search for the best possible performance with our bike. We will be looking to add more points in both races”, mentions Miguel Oliveira.

As all riders still need to adapt to the Buddh International Circuit, Friday's free practice session was extended from 45 to 70 minutes, starting at 06:45 a.m. (Mainland Portugal time). Also the afternoon training session, which counts towards qualification, is 10 minutes longer than usual, starting at 11:00 a.m until 12:10 a.m.

In a weekend that represented the best result ever for the CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team, Miguel Oliveira signed his contribution to this feat with a fantastic sixth place, adding 10 more points to his current classification in the MotoGP World Championship.

Adaptation to RS-GP in Misano

Friday did not start in the best way for the rider from Charneca de Caparica, who fought all day to get the best feeling with his RS-GP as it adapted to the Misano Marco Simoncelli Circuit. He closed the 'Free Practice' in P18, although just 0.650 seconds away from the top. In the second training session of the day, Oliveira still felt the need to continue adapting to his bike, performing his best lap in P22, even so improving compared to the morning session.

“It was a complicated and strange day at the same time, to be honest. I wasn't able to find a good feeling with the bike and I had some difficulties regarding time attacks with the new tires. With a little more grip, I felt some vibrations, and that's what we're going to focus on to find a solution for tomorrow [Saturday]. We have two Aprilia’s that are in the top10, so we have to have a good bike and a good base and we have to understand what we can do for tomorrow”, commented Miguel Oliveira.

Both CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team riders in Q2 for the first time

After doing his best on Friday, the following day, Saturday, Miguel Oliveira managed to improve his feeling on his Aprilia RS-GP throughout the day. He managed to be the ninth rider in FP2 and in Qualifying he surprised everyone and everything with an impressive lap time of 1m31s272, closing Q1 in P1 and thus taking place in Q2. In Q2, the Portuguese rider managed to set the 10th best time on the starting grid, starting from the fourth line of the grid.

In the 'Sprint Race', after a successful start, Miguel Oliveira managed to hold P11, but in the last four laps he ended up losing a position and crossing the finish line in P12.

“Today everything went a little better. I managed to at least make a competitive qualification. It's not easy when you go through Q1 and you have to do the same thing again in Q2, but I was happy to have managed to do a good lap. I didn't have much more in terms of speed in Q2, nothing at least that would allow me to progress. I had a good start and the first corners were also positive, but after two or three laps I started to feel that my rear tire wasn't having the best grip and I struggled to maintain the pace. I also found myself struggling to turn into Turn 11 in the fastest sector and it was here that I lost the most time on my lap there. Fortunately, with what we learned today, we will be able to take a new step tomorrow [Sunday]. We made a big leap from Friday to today [Saturday] and I hope we can do the same in relation to the main race”, says the 28-year-old driver.

Best result ever for the CrytoDATA RNF MotoGP Team in 2023

The San Marino Grand Prix represented the best result yet for the CrytoDATA RNF MotoGP Team. While Miguel Oliveira closed the race with a very strong sixth place, his teammate Raúl Fernandez took home his best Grand Prix in the MotoGP premier class in eighth place, after 27 laps at the Circuito de Misano Marco Simoncelli.

Having started from 10th place on the starting grid, Oliveira achieved his usual strong start which soon placed him in seventh position, after just a few corners. With a very strong and constant pace, the Portuguese rider managed to hold this position throughout practically the entire race and even managed to progress to sixth, with just five laps left until the end of the race. He thus managed to cross the finish line in a fantastic sixth place, which gave him another 10 points in the general classification of the MotoGP World Championship.

“I'm not over the moon, but I'm happy. I'm glad I ended the weekend this way. We started with some difficulties in adapting my riding style to the route and the bike. Finally, we managed to turn things around on Saturday, including a good ‘Sprint Race’. Today [Sunday], we managed to find a good additional feeling with the bike. The team helped me with some changes to make me feel even more comfortable and I'm very happy with that. I'm also very happy for the whole team, they did an excellent job helping me, and achieving a good result together is always the best”, concluded Oliveira.

The next MotoGP round takes place over the weekend of September 22nd to 24th, in India, on the new and exotic asphalt of the Buddh International Circuit.

A full day of testing at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, after a very strong weekend for Miguel Oliveira, gave the entire CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team even more motivation for the upcoming rounds abroad, which begin in India in less of two weeks.

While the San Marino Grand Prix proved not only to be very hot in terms of track and air temperatures, but also in terms of the team's results with the Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira in sixth after a complicated weekend, and Raul Fernandez in eighth, the Monday of tests was no different. Scorching weather conditions and a lot of grip on the Italian asphalt determined the day of testing.

Both Oliveira and Fernandez took advantage of all the available track time, testing from morning to night. Miguel Oliveira had the opportunity to test a new Aprilia bike, doing some consecutive tests with his real RS-GP and made some interesting comments to the engineers. The rider from Charneca de Caparica completed a total of 65 laps and had the seventh fastest time on the grid.

“It was nice to get a first taste of the 2023 bike. There is not a single aspect, that is outstanding better than mine, but it’s a little bit better everywhere. For sure, the bike has a lot of potential, a little bit more than mine, so it’s nice also to know which points we can maybe work on our bike to still this season try to be more competitive and get the most out of the package. We didn’t do many laps on the 2023 bike, because it wouldn’t make sense to work all day with it, as it’s a machine we will not compete on the next races. For that reason, we continued the work with the 2022 RS-GP. We had some little things to try, a link, a swingarm, nothing different on the setup. But these little things helped us to understand which direction to take”, said Miguel Oliveira.

Now, Miguel Oliveira, as well as the entire CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team, are packing their bags for a seven-round trip through Asia and Australia, starting next week at the Buddh International Circuit, a new addition to the World Championship calendar MotoGP in India.