Month: October 2023

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.