Month: September 2023

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.

After a strong start to the second half of the season a few days ago at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Miguel Oliveira and the CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team travel directly to Italy for the Gran Premio de San Marino, which takes place between September 8th and 10th, at the Circuito World Misano Marco Simoncelli. Round 12 of the 2023 MotoGP World Championship season will be the last event in Europe before a long tour of Asia and Australia and the final race in Valencia, Spain.

Miguel Oliveira put his Aprilia RS-GP on the front row of the grid for the first time last weekend after setting an incredible third fastest lap in qualifying. In the Sprint Race, he managed to finish sixth, although he had a real fight to keep his pace strong. Likewise, in Sunday's race, the Charneca de Caparica rider managed to get around some problems and ended up crossing the checkered flag in a great fifth place, which gave him and his CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP team a huge boost of motivation for this weekend.

“For Misano we follow a good motivation for the race weekend. We know that the challenge is different from Barcelona, ​​as the Misano World Circuit is a completely different track, of course. I arrive with an open mind and very confident”, says Miguel Oliveira.

The weekend starts as usual with the first free practice session at 09:45 (mainland Portugal time) this Friday, followed by the timed practice session at 14:00 the same day, which determines entries in qualifications 'one' and 'two' ' in qualifying. After the San Marino GP, the Misano Marco Simoncelli World Circuit will also play host to a day of testing on Monday, before the entire MotoGP paddock departs for the Far East.

It was a weekend full of strong emotions in Barcelona, ​​Spain, marking the start of the second half of the MotoGP World Championship. After an excellent performance in Q1, which gave him access to Q2, Miguel Oliveira managed to qualify in top3 and recorded P6 and P5 in the sprint race and the long race of the Catalan Grand Prix, respectively.

Friday with good feelings

The CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team arrived at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with high expectations for this weekend, with the aim of starting a turnaround in the 2023 season, until now marked by misfortunes. Miguel Oliveira started with a very strong pace, but it was a close call that he missed out on direct entry into Q2.

Oliveira recorded the seventh fastest time of the morning. In the 'Practice' in the afternoon, the rider from Charneca de Caparica managed to be a second faster, having passed the checkered flag with the 14th best time, just 0.086 seconds away from direct entry into Q2.

"I had a great day, except for the last 10 minutes of 'time attack'. I'm unhappy that we couldn't improve enough, but I'm sure we'll work on the bike together with my team tomorrow morning, before qualifying to try to have the opportunity to reach Q2 and be as fast as we can”, said Miguel Oliveira confidently.

Oliveira gains access to Q2 and leaves the 1st row of the grid

With a Saturday with mixed conditions, hot and humid, Miguel Oliveira achieved his first start of the season on the front row of the grid today, finishing third in qualifying on the Catalan circuit. Having managed to show his pace, even after a very heavy crash in the first free practice, the 28-year-old Portuguese rider finished Q1 at the top of the timesheets, with an extremely fast lap of 1:38.789 minutes, once again guaranteeing first place in the standings qualification to advance to Q2. And it was in Q2 that the Portuguese rider improved his lap time even further, finishing with an impressive third place, which guaranteed him a start from the front row of the grid, for the 'Sprint race' and for the main race, in the Sunday.

In the 'Sprint', Oliveira lost some positions in the first corner, after the start, running in eighth after the first lap. From then on, Miguel Oliveira fought hard until reaching fifth place on the third lap. Even so, the marked degradation of his tires prevented Oliveira from fighting for the podium, and he even had to give up a position on the last lap. The rider still finished the Sprint in sixth, after 12 racing laps, this being his second best result in a 'Sprint race' to date, after a fifth in Jerez.

"I'm happy with today. I expected a little more in the Sprint race, but I gave it my all. I already had my front tire 'done' after seven or eight laps, so it was difficult for me to turn or brake and I managed the rest of the race. race trying to avoid a crash. It was really a shame because I had good speed and pace, but there was nothing else I could do. It's a good indicator to see two Aprilias on the podium, also with my performance today. Tomorrow [Sunday] we'll go try to understand what we can do to avoid destroying the front tire and try to be as fast as we can”, concluded the rider from Almada.

Sunday giving everything and closing in top5

The long race of the Catalan Grand Prix got off to an impressive start due to several riders crashing, which led to the red flag being raised. Fortunately, both CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team riders were not involved and the race restarted minutes later with 23 laps.

Miguel Oliveira managed to make a good start from P3 on the starting grid and was fourth after the first lap. He showed incredible pace in the opening laps and even progressed to third on the fourth lap. But when the tires wore out, he was unable to maintain the strong pace and lost two positions after lap 10. Even so, the Portuguese rider continued to give everything and ended up crossing the finish line in fifth place, bringing home 11 points.

“In the first seven or eight laps I was doing well, but then it was difficult to prevent Jorge (Martin) and Johann (Zarco) from overtaking in the last laps. My front tire was destroyed on the right side, something we were more or less expecting for this long race. Furthermore, it was also difficult to save the rear tire. But overall, I take several positive notes: it was a good weekend and we were fast. In the race, despite all the difficulties, we were still able to fight for the top five and running in third place for a few laps wasn't bad at all. I'm about to leave for Misano and I'm going with a good feeling and motivation to start working there”, says the Portuguese rider.

In just a few days, the CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team will once again be preparing its 'box' at the Misano World Circuit – Marco Simoncelli, marking the penultimate round on European soil this year, before the season finale in Valencia in November .