Month: August 2023

Finishing off the first half of the MotoGP World Championship 2023 just recently at the CryptoDATA Grand Prix of Austria, Miguel Oliveira and the CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team are determined to turn the page for the remaining 10 rounds this season, starting this weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

After a stunning weekend in Silverstone fighting for the podium, Miguel Oliveira had to cope with a setback at the Red Bull Ring, as he was pushed out of the Sprint Race and had to retire from the main Race on Sunday early due to a technical issue. Now, he aims to prove his good form again at the fast and flowing track in Montmeló, at Barcelona.

“After the disappointing result in Austria, I’m excited to turn the tide in our favor and bring a good result for the whole team. We have been as effective whenever we had the opportunity to show it and knowing that last year Barcelona was particularly good for Aprilia, I can’t wait to get there and on the bike”, said the Portuguese rider.

In the 111.77km of the Catalan circuit, the first practices this Friday start at 09:45, mainland Portugal time, and the 'Practice' counting for the qualification takes place between 14:00 and 15:00. The long run is scheduled for Sunday at 1pm.

The 10th round of the MotoGP World Championship, in Spielberg, Austria, began surrounded by expectations, especially in relation to Miguel Oliveira, whose first victory in the MotoGP premier class took place on Austrian soil, but also due to the rider's potential, always praised and acclaimed, even more so after his return already 100% recovered from the injuries suffered (in previous races) and eager to win.

The weekend got off to a positive start with Miguel Oliveira managing to qualify directly for Q2, but it didn't go so well, since Saturday, during the 'sprint race', the pilot was forced to withdraw from the race, for having been again practically collided by other pilots. On Sunday, Oliveira was unable to complete the 'long' race, due to a mechanical problem on his RS-GP22.

“I was fast over the weekend, but we had a little problem during the [long] race, a strange problem to be honest. It was a very simple detail, but it made me abandon it. The weights that calibrate my front wheel jumped, and as a result I couldn't put too much pressure on the brakes, because of the vibration, and I had to retire because of that”, refers the native rider from Charneca de Caparica.

Direct entry to Q2

In particular, on Friday, Miguel Oliveira did his best to get as close to the top as possible. In the first session, he rode fast and got a P17, although still far from his personal goal. Already in the only Practice Session counting for the qualification, he managed to remain in the top 10 of the best times, having guaranteed direct entry to Q2, the next day.

“Today was a difficult day, but finally positive. I didn't feel like I had the best pace overall, but I managed to do a good time attack and that helped me get into the top 10. I wish I had a little more time to work on the bike, but “it is what it is” and we have to be happy with the results. For tomorrow [Saturday], we are going to try some things to improve and try to be competitive during qualifying and the sprint”, concludes Miguel Oliveira.

Oliveira sandwiched in the Sprint Race

The sunny Saturday held promise in terms of expectations for the CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team and, although Miguel Oliveira and his teammate Raul Fernandez delivered a strong qualifying session and some improvements throughout the morning, luck was not on the team's side in the ' Sprint Race'.

Oliveira set an incredible lap, breaking the 1:29 minute mark to finish just 0.427 seconds behind pole position in eighth position. Starting from the third row of the grid, he was immediately “sandwiched” between his competitors and could not find a way out, when he was touched and removed in the first corner, so he was forced to finish his ‘Sprint Race’.

"From my perspective it's very difficult to understand, I was hit from all sides, I almost fell and I couldn't do more because I was 'sandwiched' in that situation. It's a shame. Today was certainly difficult with the hot temperatures in the afternoon. We really wanted to had an idea of ​​the feeling for tomorrow, but unfortunately we didn't. So there's no better way to prepare for tomorrow, we just need to be open-minded and give everything on track. I'm fine physically, there are no injuries and I'm ready to try again tomorrow", said optimistically the 28-year-old portuguese rider.

On Sunday, the rider from Almada, who started from eighth position, 3rd row on the grid, returned to the CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team pits during the seventh lap, when he was 13th. At the origin of the impossibility of finishing the race was a mechanical problem on his Aprilia RS-GP, which was linked to the lack of calibration of his front wheel.

The next round of MotoGP takes place in the first weekend of September, still on European soil, more precisely in Barcelona, ​​Spain; this will be the 11th MotoGP race of 2023.

Round 10 of the MotoGP World Championship will be doubly special for the CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team, as this weekend's event, which takes place in Austria, is sponsored by CryptoDATA. The Austrian GP also marks the vibrant memory of the first victory in the MotoGP premier class, which Miguel Oliveira provided to all Portuguese people, so the Portuguese rider and the entire CrytoDATA RNF MotoGP Team arrive in the Styrian mountains with extra motivation.

Having recently achieved his best result of the season so far, Oliveira, who returned fully fit and recovered after the summer break, had a fantastic race at Silverstone, Great Britain, where he crossed the finish line in fourth, just about 0.070 seconds of from getting a place on the podium. Confidence and motivation could not be missing from Miguel Oliveira for this 10th round of MotoGP, at the Red Bull Ring:

“I’m really excited to head out to Austria. The Red Bull Ring is a track that looks challenging for our RS-GP, but I’m really looking forward to continue the good form that we showed in Silverstone with specific focus on Qualifying in order to try to get a better starting position and be able to charge for more. I’m definitely looking forward to it and I’m very motivated!”

The CryptoDATA Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich starts this Friday with the first free practice session at 9:45 am in mainland Portugal, followed by the 60-minute practice session at 2 pm, which remains the only session to count towards the qualification.

The Portuguese rider from CrytoDATA RNF MotoGP Team had a fantastic Sunday at the British Grand Prix, having achieved his best result of the season, passing the checkered flag in P4, in a race in which he started from 16th position on the starting grid.

Over the 20 laps of this Sunday's race at Silverstone, Miguel Oliveira showed an impressive performance and was the protagonist of a breathtaking recovery, even under some changes in weather conditions.

Friday aiming for Qualifying

Miguel Oliveira entered the weekend quite confident and finally recovered to 100%. Friday morning started with free practice, and with the slight changes in the championship format, only the afternoon session started counting for the Silvertson GP Qualifying, the ninth round of the MotoGP World Championship – a format that will remain until the end of the season.

With the track layout also slightly modified, the Portuguese rider easily managed to adapt during practice and in the afternoon timed session he set the 14th fastest time, which pushed him into Q1 on Saturday.

“I wasn't completely satisfied with today, because I managed to do the ideal lap for Q2, but in the end I couldn't overcome myself. At the same time, I had a new chassis to test and there were positives and negatives in that situation. Going into the 'time attack' I couldn't be fully consistent, which was a shame. But overall we have the potential to go faster, so hopefully tomorrow [Saturday] we can give it our all. It looks like weather conditions are going to be more challenging than today, so the focus will be on getting into the rhythm as quickly as possible”, says Miguel Oliveira referring to the first day of the GP on British soil.

Cold Saturday with persistent rain

Already on Saturday, the rain and cold received the entire MotoGP caravan at the English circuit, and with only 13 degrees of temperature on the track in the morning and persistent rain, the training and qualifying sessions, as well as the 'sprint' race, did not were easy to manage, although the track started to dry out during the 'Sprint' in the afternoon. Still, Miguel Oliveira did his best and showed an impressive recovery during the 10-lap race, even after a minor crash in the weekend's FP2 session.

Having qualified in P16 for the weekend's races, Oliveira found himself limited at the start of the 'Sprint', which gave him a less easy first lap, dropping back to 20th, to recover from there lap by lap. After just two laps, he was back in 16th position and at the end of lap three, the 28-year-old rider was already 12th. With two laps to go, he was 10th and set lap times as fast as the race leader at the end.

“I felt really good today. I made a mistake this morning after crashing in the practice session: I thought it would be a better idea to keep the tyres, which would be ready to start, but they turned out to be too cold because we didn't have enough time to warm them up. I did the whole Q1 on cold tires and I couldn't get enough grip to go faster. It was a pity. The race was good, I was stopped at the start by Brad (Binder) because his tires spun a lot, and when we 'closed' the throttle, everyone passed us. “I fell” to P20, but I recovered well to P10. I made some good overtakes and was fast on the bike, which was good", said the Charneca de Caparica rider.

Breathtaking sunday

In Sunday's race, Miguel Oliveira, who started 16th on the grid, quickly gained ground and was already 14th in the first sector and recovered one more position at the end of the first lap. His pace was such that he managed to gain practically a position on every lap, until he was sixth on lap seven. From there it took a few laps to get into the top 5. With eight laps to go, light rain started to fall, which made conditions more complicated. Even so, the Portuguese continued at a great pace and gained four seconds to approach the front group, a group where he fought for P3 with two laps to go and ended up crossing the finish line in fourth position, being the best independent rider in the premier class.

"I'm happy! It's a shame we finished so close to the podium and even more so when I was fighting for third position a few times in the last part of the race, but I'm still happy to start the second part of the season in a good way, the which definitely motivates us to keep going. Our approach continues to be “race by race” and always try to do the best we can. I'm also very happy for Aleix (Espargaró) to have won the race; to have three Aprilias in the top five this track definitely gives us a good feeling", concluded Miguel Oliveira.

In less than two weeks, the MotoGP World Championship heads to Austria for Round 10 of 2023 and the Grand Prix home to CryptoDATA.

After a five-week break, Miguel Oliveira and the CryptoData RNF MotoGP Team arrive this weekend at Silverstone for the ninth round of 2023, which begins the second half of an intense season. After a long period of recovery after a challenging start to the season, the pilot from Charneca de Caparica is confident and fully able to start this next phase with enthusiasm.

Miguel Oliveira had to recover from a shoulder injury sustained at the Spanish GP, in what was only the fourth round of the season. The Portuguese rider struggled to recover and worked to improve his condition at subsequent races at Mugello, Sachsenring and Assen. However, it was positive that he was able to take a well deserved five-week break, which has given him enough time to recover fully ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix.

“I think it’s a great time to come back after such a long break, that was really helpful for me to recover my shoulder 100%. I came to a fitness level close to where I was at the start of the season. I obviously feel very confident and happy to get on working and really be competitive again back on my Aprilia RS-GP. It wasn’t the start of the season that we had hoped for, but we take on the second half and aim to bring back good results for all of us”, said Miguel Oliveira.

For the remaining 12 rounds of 2023, the format has changed slightly. The British Grand Prix starts with 'Free Practice 1' at 10:45 local time on Friday, meaning the session does not count towards qualifying, while the 60-minute practice session on Friday afternoon at 15:00 local time will determine the entries for “Qualifying 1” and “2” which take place on Saturday.

Remember that Miguel Oliveira currently occupies 17th place in the World Drivers' Championship, with 27 points.