Month: February 2023

The third and final day of testing at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia saw an early end of track action when rain set in with less than one hour to go. Yet, Miguel Oliveira and his RNF MotoGP Team managed to use a fair amount of time on a dry track, but also wet conditions on Saturday in order to prepare for the upcoming MotoGP World Championship season. Miguel Oliveira and his team leave Malaysia with a decent feeling.

During the three testing days, Miguel Oliveira was working further on adapting himself to his Aprilia RS-GP, and starting to adjust more and more. The Portuguese did a total of 154 laps throughout the three days of testing with a fastest lap of 1:58.839 minutes on Saturday, which see him finishing in P15 overall. Now, the local hero can’t wait to return home, where the premier class will have a second pre-season test in 2023 at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in March ahead of the first race of the season.

"I expected more from myself today to be honest, but when it came to putting it all together during the time attacks, we just couldn't do it. There is still a bit of work to be done in the adaptation of this bike as it is truly different to ride. But we know exactly what we need to do, we will make a plan for the test in Portimao as we have another two days of testing before we get ready to start the race season. In general, today was good, I had a decent pace and worked on a few things on the bike and managed to understand it a bit more", concludes Miguel Oliveira.

Remember that the new season will be the longest ever, with 21 scheduled races, the first of which will take place in Portugal, at the renowned Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, on the weekend of March 24th to 26th.

Rain affected the second day of testing in Malaysia, yet Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira, from the RNF Aprilia MotoGP Team, improved noticeably.

The second day of the official MotoGP testing at the Sepang International Circuit started on a damp track this morning. Some rain showers interrupted proceedings throughout the day, but Miguel Oliveira did not only just set fast dry lap times, but also learned to ride his new Aprilia RS-GP in the wet.

Although time on a dry track was limited due to some drops of rain and some heavier showers towards the end of the day, Oliveira managed to improve on his personal best lap time from day one by 0.891 seconds. Thereby, the Portuguese star moved up to second place in the test standings of the day, just 0.103 seconds behind the fastest rider after doing 52 laps today.

“Today was a good day! It’s true that we didn’t get as much dry time as we wanted. Actually, we wanted to test a couple more things with the bike, but we couldn’t. That was a shame. But we still enjoyed ourselves throughout today. Hopefully, we get the chance to have some more track time in dry conditions tomorrow”, reveals Miguel Oliveira.

Tomorrow will be the final test day at the Sepang International Circuit, before the entire paddock moves over to Europe for two further days of testing at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, at Portimão, Portugal, in March ahead of the first of 21 rounds of 2023 at the same venue.

The first of three days of tests on Malaysian soil is concluded, with Miguel Oliveira taking the first laps aboard his Aprilia RS-GP on the scorching International Circuit of Sepang this Friday.

Although the morning was marked by some rain, the truth is that the Portuguese managed to make the most of the track time. He clocked his fastest lap of 1'59.730 after breaking the two-minute mark in the afternoon.

In total, Miguel Oliveira did 50 laps of the Sepang International Circuit on the first day and continued to work on adapting to his new bike and his new team – RNF Aprilia MotoGP Team –, after doing just one day of testing in Valencia, Spain. , last November. It closed the first day at P14. 

"I had good feelings. I think after three months, everyone started from zero and it was the same for me too, the first couple of runs I had to discover the bike again. It's very different but the bike has a lot of potential, I just need to adapt it now to my style. We haven't touched anything yet on the bike, we started with the base setup, and now we will discover and touch little things so I can feel more comfortable and of course, to go faster. We have two more days and plenty of kilometers to do with the Aprilia and I'm confident", concludes Miguel Oliveira. 

Saturday and Sunday will see the premier class back out at the Sepang International Circuit to further prepare the 2023 season.

Three days of testing at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia will mark a new start for the portuguese Miguel Oliveira with the RNF Aprilia MotoGP Team. Between February 10th and 12th, also for the RNF MotoGP Team, it will be debut time, as the team signs the next seasons with Aprilia and with two promising riders: in addition to Oliveira, the 22-year-old Spaniard Raúl Fernandez.

So, the usual (and long) winter break in MotoGP comes to an end this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with the first official test of 2023 taking place on Malaysian soil. After a successful test day last November in Valencia, Spain, Miguel Oliveira and the entire RNF Aprilia MotoGP Team structure are excited to start the new season this week.

“It will be spectacular being able to ride close to Aleix (Espargaró) and Maverick (Viñales) in these test days. It's definitely a goal to be close to the factory riders. We will also test some things, but not many. Our main focus will be on building a solid base of work and understanding what might work for me and what might not. It's a test, where we're going to filter out some things. The intention is just for me to be able to adapt to the bike”, says Miguel Oliveira.

The main objective, both for the Charneca de Caparica rider and his colleague Fernandez, is to get to know their Aprilia RS-GP machines better during this official test. The Portuguese, five times winner of races in the MotoGP premier class, intends to make the most of his time on the track to be prepared for the next 21 Grand Prix of the year, which will now include speed races (also known as “sprint races”, on Saturdays) and one main race per event (which is usually held on Sundays).

The Sepang International Circuit will get all the action between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm (local time, GMT +8) from Friday to Sunday. After this first meeting this year in Malaysia, Miguel Oliveira and the entire MotoGP caravan will have two more days of testing in Portimão, Portugal, in March. Still in March, more specifically on the 16th, and also in Portugal (at Estoril), the launch of the RNF Aprilia MotoGP Team will take place to present the official colors for this 2023 season.