Year: 2024

The Portuguese rider completed his last MotoGP race of 2024 with a solid performance at the Barcelona Solidarity Grand Prix, finishing in 12th place. After a year marked by challenges, including an injury that kept him out of four rounds and left him recovering until the final race, Miguel Oliveira says goodbye to Trackhouse and prepares to open a new chapter with Pramac Yamaha.

At the Barcelona Solidarity Grand Prix, the last race of the year, the Almada-born rider started from 14th position and showed solid pace throughout the race, gaining two places. “I enjoyed the race. It was one of those races where you start and push as hard as you can from the first lap to the last. My pace was very consistent,” said Miguel Oliveira.

On his farewell to Trackhouse, the Portuguese rider underlined his performance: “I did my job, a good performance to say goodbye to the team, and I'm happy about that,” he added.

Overall this season, Miguel Oliveira achieved his best result of the year at the German Grand Prix, where he took second place in the sprint race. In the main races, he stood out with a sixth place in the same German Grand Prix, having also finished four races in the top ten: Portugal, Spain, Catalunya and Emilia-Romagna.

With 75 points scored in 2024, the Almada-born rider finished the championship in 15th place in the overall standings, up one position on last year. 

New step with Pramac Yamaha

The Portuguese rider starts working with Pramac Yamaha on Tuesday, where he will team up with Jack Miller, and hopes to achieve good results in MotoGP.

“I wanted to be in a project where I could win, be taken into account, and I believe that at Yamaha I'll achieve that. I've felt a great desire from the team to support me with a good structure and competitive material,” said the Portuguese rider about his new team, where he will be doing his first tests with the new bike over the next few days.

The end of 2024 marks the end of a challenging chapter and the start of an ambitious new phase for Miguel Oliveira in MotoGP.

Saturday was the second-to-last chapter of Miguel Oliveira's journey with Trackhouse. Despite the physical limitations caused by his wrist injury and some technical difficulties, the Portuguese rider showed resilience and ambition in every session.

In the morning, in the first qualifying phase (Q1) of the Barcelona Solidarity GP, the Almada-born rider put in a solid performance, showing progress throughout the session. He came very close to reaching the second qualifying round (Q2), securing 14th place on the starting grid for the sprint race.

About the session, Miguel Oliveira highlighted his performance: “I managed to do a good lap with the limitations of my wrist and, in truth, I wasn't expecting to be so close to making it through to Q2.”

Earlier in the afternoon, in the sprint race, the course proved to be more challenging due to technical problems, which hampered the bike's stability at crucial moments of the race. Despite a troubled start, Miguel Oliveira kept his focus, recovered positions in the final stages and finished in 18th position.

Tomorrow, at 1pm, the last race of the 2024 MotoGP season will take place, a race that will mark Miguel Oliveira's farewell to Trackhouse. The rider is optimistic and wants to close this round with a seal of quality.

After almost two months out with an injury, the Portuguese rider returned to the track this Friday at the Barcelona Solidarity Grand Prix, the last of the MotoGP season. The race was a chance for Miguel Oliveira to feel the asphalt again, in a Grand Prix that was also marked by its charity nature in favor of the Valencian Community.

In free practice on Friday, the Almada-born rider finished the morning session in 21st place. In the afternoon session, Miguel Oliveira finished in 20th place in timed practice, having completed his best lap in 1.40.404 minutes.

More than the results, the last race of the 2024 MotoGP season is of special importance to the Portuguese rider, who returns to competition after an absence of almost two months after fracturing his right wrist at Mandalika.

At the end of the day, Miguel Oliveira emphasized this, saying that today's race was proof that he is capable of competing, stressing that the training sessions were mainly to “recover the sensations in his body and mind”.

Pointing out that now is the time to “enjoy as much as possible”, the Portuguese rider showed optimism for tomorrow: “There's potential to improve for tomorrow, so I'm happy with that”.

As well as the competition, the day was also marked by Miguel Oliveira's contribution to the Valencian Community. The Barcelona Solidarity Grand Prix will feature a charity auction in favor of the region affected by the floods, and Miguel Oliveira contributed a helmet, suit and boots.

Miguel Oliveira returns to the track this weekend at the Solidarity Grand Prix in Barcelona, marking the grand finale of the 2024 MotoGP season.

The Portuguese rider is set to compete again after suffering a serious wrist injury, caused by a traction control system error during a practice session in Mandalika. This incident led to a fractured wrist, sidelining Oliveira for the remainder of the Asian rounds.

"I'm very excited to be back racing in MotoGP," said the Portuguese rider.

"My expectations aren’t too high, as I’m unsure how my wrist will hold up once I’m back on the bike. It will undoubtedly be a Grand Prix with mixed feelings. But my goal is to leave the Trackhouse team on a high note."

The Solidarity Grand Prix will be held at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit, replacing Valencia, which has traditionally hosted the season finale in previous years. This year, however, Valencia could not serve as the final venue due to the severe damage caused by devastating storms, which affected much of its facilities.

"We’ll obviously be racing to bring hope and raise funds for those impacted by the catastrophic events in Valencia. Overall, I’m looking forward to it!"

This will be Miguel Oliveira’s last weekend on the Aprilia RS-GP with Trackhouse Racing. Afterward, he will begin a new phase in his career as a factory rider for Yamaha with the Prima Pramac Racing satellite team, starting with end-of-season testing on Tuesday.

September brought mixed moments for the Portuguese rider: he improved his results between the first two Grands Prix of the month, but a setback in the third race resulted in an injury to his arm. Still recovering, the Almada rider is exclusively focused on returning to the track.

The month began with the San Marino Grand Prix at the Misano circuit, where Miguel Oliveira had finished 6th in 2023. Staying true to the fearless style that characterizes him, the Portuguese rider took advantage of the circumstances of a race influenced by unstable weather and recovered seven positions, starting from 18th on the grid and finishing the race in 11th place. He secured five points in the overall standings and established himself as Aprilia's best rider of the day. 

Two weeks later, when he returned to the same Misano circuit, this time for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Miguel Oliveira set himself the goal of finishing in the top ten, a target he achieved.

After a first day marked by some problems with the front of his bike, the Portuguese rider showed his mettle on the following day of the Italian GP, securing a place in the second qualifying round and finishing 11th in the Sprint race. Completing a growing weekend, Miguel Oliveira showed what he was capable of on Sunday and secured a much-desired place in the top 10, adding six points to the overall standings.

The Portuguese rider is “hungrier than ever for victory"

The last weekend of the month had been reserved for the Portuguese rider's return to Lombok Island, Indonesia, to a track with fond memories: Miguel Oliveira won at the Mandalika circuit's debut on the MotoGP calendar in 2022, after a remarkable performance, characterized by an intense pace in heavy rain.

The return, however, was marked by a major setback for the Portuguese rider's ambitions. In the final minutes of the first free practice session, he crashed and fractured the radius in his arm, making it immediately clear that he would be unable to continue in the race.

The rider, who has already undergone surgery in Portugal, has missed the Indonesian and Japanese Grands Prix, and is also guaranteed to miss the Australian Grand Prix.

Focused on recovery, Miguel Oliveira left a message of hope and resilience on his social media last Saturday. He showed that he was “more determined than ever to come back stronger” and recalled that it is when you are “put to the test off the track” that you show your “true strength”. To his millions of fans and followers, the Almada rider promised that he will soon be back, “hungrier for victory than ever”.

The Portuguese rider, who competes in the MotoGP world championship, suffered a fall in the first practice session of the Indonesian race which resulted in a fractured radius in his right arm. 

Promptly assisted at the circuit's medical center, he was then evacuated to the local hospital to assess the severity of the injury. After diagnostic tests, the fracture was reduced and immobilized. The Almada rider was then able to travel to Lisbon and be accompanied by Dr. Gonçalo Morais Sarmento and his team at the Sant'Ana Hospital in Parede, where a plate was implanted to stabilize the bone.

Miguel Oliveira will have a careful recovery ahead of him, focused on the success of the surgery, and the first week will be of absolute rest so that he can then evaluate and define the best and appropriate strategy to get back on the bike as soon as possible. 

At the moment, everything indicates that the rider will sit out the next two races, in Japan and Australia. 

The next MotoGP Sprint race will take place at 07:00 on Saturday morning and the 24-lap race at 06:00 on Sunday morning, while the first practice sessions for the Japanese GP begin with the Moto3 category at 01:00 on Friday morning.

The Almada rider is returning to the Indonesian island of Lombok, where he has fond memories after winning at the Mandalika circuit in 2022. Looking ahead to the race, Miguel Oliveira is optimistic about the bike's progress and achieving a good result.

The Mandalika circuit's debut on the MotoGP calendar in 2022 was a talisman for the Portuguese rider, who won the race after a remarkable performance, marked by an intense pace in heavy rain.

On the eve of his return to Lombok for the Indonesian Grand Prix, the 15th of this season, Miguel Oliveira reveals that his “expectations for the weekend have nothing to do with the victory of two years ago”, but points out that the team is “much more optimistic” with the Aprilia bike.

The Portuguese driver will start the free practice sessions this Friday. On Saturday, the second qualifying round starts at 4:15 am (Portuguese time) and the sprint race at 08:00 am. On the final day of the Indonesian Grand Prix, the main race also starts at 08h00.

“Proud” to have the Portuguese Grand Prix confirmed until 2026

On the sidelines of the race, the Portuguese rider also praised yesterday's announcement that the Portuguese Grand Prix and the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve (AIA) will remain on the MotoGP calendar for another two years.

“It's fantastic, not least because we had no certainty from the Portuguese government about the Grand Prix in Portugal. I'm proud of everyone's tremendous work after the death of Paulo [Pinheiro, founder and administrator of the AIA, who passed away in July], which required a lot of restructuring,” he said, while also expressing his hope that the motorcycle World Championship in Portugal would be extended beyond 2026.

On his arrival at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, the Almada rider set himself the goal of finishing in the top ten and he achieved it.

It was a weekend on the rise for Miguel Oliveira. The Portuguese rider returned to Misano with the expectation of improving on the 11th place he achieved two weeks ago at the same circuit and he achieved his goal, improving his results every day.

On Friday, in the timed practice session, Oliveira suffered technical problems and finished in 16th position, admitting at the end of the day that he wasn't “comfortable riding”, reporting some problems with the front of his Aprilia bike.

The following day, the Portuguese rider got off to the best start, naturally making it through to the second qualifying round, where he ended up in 12th place on the starting grid for the main race.

This Sunday, Miguel Oliveira showed his sagacity and recovered two places, finishing the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in 10th position and securing six points in the overall standings.

At the end of the race, the Almada rider said that the “result was gratifying”, explaining that, “after the start”, it took him “too many laps to find a trajectory to overtake some opponents”, but stressing that it was good to have found “some speed”.

The MotoGP championship now heads to Asia and Oceania and will pass through Indonesia, Japan, Australia, Thailand and Malaysia, before returning to Europe for the final stop on the calendar in Valencia on November 15.

Listen here to Miguel Oliveira's full statements after the third day of the Emilia Romagna GP:

On the second day of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, the Almada rider put in an excellent performance early in the morning that guaranteed him passage to the second qualifying round. In the sprint race, he was strong and came close to securing points.

Miguel Oliveira started the day in the first qualifying phase, Q1, taking second place and recording his best time of 01:31.146. In the next phase, Q2, the Portuguese rider was strong and made it into the top ten, but ended up finishing the race in 12th position.

In the afternoon, in the sprint race, Miguel Oliveira maintained his consistency and moved up one place, completing the thirteen laps in 11th place.

‘It was a good day. I felt better on the bike today,’ said the Almada rider at the end of the day, explaining the differences between sessions: ’I didn't do the best lap in Q2, I could have been at the end of the second row or the beginning of the third. The sprint race was good. When you start in the middle of the pack, anything can happen and I got a bit stuck in the first few laps, but I did the best I could.’

Listen here to Miguel Oliveira's full statements after the second day of the Emilia Romagna GP: 

After a weekend break in the MotoGP calendar, the Almada rider returns confidently to the Misano circuit for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

After finishing 11th and scoring five points in the San Marino Grand Prix, Miguel Oliveira is back at Misano, where he hopes to improve on his performance on September 8th.

The Portuguese rider wants to take advantage of the battery of tests held the following day at the same circuit, where he rode 76 laps, to improve the performance of his Aprilia bike on Italian soil. 

“I'm looking forward to this second round at the Misano World Circuit. The test gave us good information to progress and we will look to do that as soon as the weekend starts,” he said.

Round 14 of the MotoGP World Championship marks the start of a series of three rounds over three consecutive weekends, and Miguel Oliveira wants to “maximize the situation by gaining good momentum from Misano onwards”.

The Almada rider, currently 13th in the standings with 65 points, will contest the sprint race on Saturday at 3 p.m. (local time) and the main race on Sunday at 1 p.m. (local time).