His first sportive successes came in 2005, when he won the MiniGP Portuguese championship and Metrakit World Festival in Spain, against 192 riders from 14 nations.
His first sportive successes came in 2005, when he won the MiniGP Portuguese championship and Metrakit World Festival in Spain, against 192 riders from 14 nations.
The Portuguese retained the title in 2006 and finished 2nd in Calypso Cup, having also won all the races of the Andalusian Championship.
In 2007 rose of category and won the Mediterranean Pre-gp125 championship.
In 2008 Oliveira participated in several championships with sporadic appearances where he has excelled in Red Bull Rookies with two consecutive victories in three stakes.
In 2009 he was third in the CEV (Spanish National Championship) and 5th ranked in the europe championship.
By 2010 Oliveira was winning 5 of 7 calendar events to finish 2nd only by two points short of its rival Maverick Viñales also taking the runner-up position in Europe, before his debut in the World Cup in 2011.
After a turbulent 2011, Oliveira returned full time in 2012 with the Estrella Galicia 0,0 team on board a Suter Honda, where he scored two podiums on his way to eighth in the championship.
In 2013 he joined Efrén Vázquez at Mahindra Racing and made headlines by grabbing the Indian manufacturer’s first ever podium, in Malaysia.
In 2014 remained on the Mahindra, notching another podium at Assen, before being recruited by Red Bull KTM Ajo for 2015.
In 2015, he started his season with KTM in the Ajo Motorsport team and recorded six wins, three 2nd places and one pole position, thus ensuring the title of vice-world champion making a thunderous recovery that surprised everybody, finishing at just six points away from the scepter.
In 2016, he ascended to the Moto2 category, joining the Leopard Racing team, along with Moto3 world champion in title Danny Kent. The season was marked by some adversities, namely a broken collarbone, which cost him 4 Grand Prix.
In 2017, he was invited to re-integrate the Red Bull KTM Ajo team, having finished the World Championship in 3rd position, only 2 points behind 2nd place. In the debut year for the team in Moto2, Miguel Oliveira had a remarkable season, with 3 victories, 9 podium presences and 2 pole positions, which represent another milestone for his career and for the sport in his home country.
In early 2018, he was elected Sportsman of the Year, in the Male Athlete category, by the Sport Confederation of Portugal, as well as named Global Ambassador for the Integrity and Transparency of Sport by the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA).
At of the world championship Miguel Oliveira continues with the KTM Red Bull Ajo team, where at the controls of the KTM Moto2 he signs three victories, two fifth places and four third places in a total of 12 podium appearances.
He’s the only rider in the class who has not suffered race crashes throughout the year, ending another brilliant season in second place in the championship with 297 points added. At Jerez de La Frontera, in the month of March, he signs the contract that takes him to the highest echelon of world motorcycling, MotoGP, becoming the first Portuguese to reach that level in the sport.
In 2019 he races his first season as a rider in the MotoGP world championship, maintaining his connection with KTM joining the Tech3 team, the new satellite structure of the Austrian manufacturer. In an ever-growing season, he manages a fantastic eighth place at the Austrian Red Bull Ring circuit as the best result and ends the year with 33 points after an injury suffered at Silverstone conditioned his performances in the last races of the year. At the end of 2019, he was received by the President of the Republic, Professor Doutor Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, at the end of the ‘Sportsmen at the Palace of Belém’ program.
In 2020, MO was the protagonist of a time with a mind-blowing ending, worthy of a suspense film, he accelerated to his first career triumph in an epic final of the Styria GP in the Red Bull Ring, a victory that doubled in end of the season on the 'roller coaster' of Portimão at MEO GP DE PORTUGAL. A brilliant closing of the season where he also recorded Pole Position, record of the track, fastest lap (1m39.855s) and leadership of the beginning to end. He ended the year with 125 points in the farewell of his first decade in the ‘paddock’.
After a year marked by two victories, the 2021 season turned out to be a year of ups and downs and it ended with little taste. Even before the end of the first half of the season, a victory in Barcelona and two podiums achieved at Mugello and Sachsenring - this one after an epic duel with Marc Márquez - left in the air that KTM was ready to give Miguel Oliveira the arguments that would place him among the best riders at the end of the year. But from Austria exactly the opposite arrived and the second half of the season was tuff, far from the results before riding a bike that stopped working... and never impressed again. The search for the best results even led to a slow injury in his recovery and, at the end of the year, the 94 points conquered were 'short' for what had been left in the air at the end of the first half of the year. The superb victory in Barcelona-Catalonia and the duels in Italy and Germany were made in history, with an emphasis on the Mugello race, where the world champion had to bow down to Miguel Oliveira.
In the 2022 season, Miguel Oliveira signs two more MotoGP victories for the KTM Factory Racing Team, respectively in Indonesia and Thailand, and is the author of historic recoveries in several races on the calendar, having even been proclaimed the "King of Rain" in some rounds. Having finished the season in the top 10 of the championship, with 149 points, that same year, Falcão announced the turning of the page with the Austrian team, to embrace new colors and a new team, for 2023 and 2024, the RNF MotoGP Team, with an Aprilia RS-GP bike.
In 2023, the Aprilia challenge had everything to be a great season. Noale's brand was gaining competitiveness in the MotoGP category and filled the delights of any rider. Miguel Oliveira took advantage of the opportunity and jumped on board the RNF project, leaving KTM in favor of the new challenge.
The season started in Portimão and, although the home driver managed to run 2 seconds below the track record, he started from 4th position to take the lead of the race. However, after his first pass across the finish line, he was hit in turn 3, where due to the impact, he suffered an injury that also left him out of the Argentina race. The journey to Jerez de La Frontera followed, where he started from 7th position to be hit again in turn 2, which cost him a new injury, the injury to Hill Sachs. It took 8 weeks of recovery, the first three (3) of absolute rest and the following of physiotherapy, taking the Mugello, Assen and Sachsenring races as tests of physical recovery. The first two injuries, as well as a third suffered in the final stretch of the championship, in Qatar, definitively affected what could have been an honorable performance by the pilot from Almada in the 2023 season.
In 2024, the American Trackhouse team entered the scene, securing an official Aprilia bike for Miguel Oliveira for the season. Davide Brivio was hired to manage the team, applying all his experience in leading the team that transitioned from 2023.
Despite overcoming economic difficulties and a two-year advance in the bike's evolution, the RS 2024 proved to be uncompetitive compared to the 2023 model. Miguel Oliveira faced considerable challenges with his team to optimise the technical package, seeking a set-up that would allow speed without premature tyre wear and loss of turning angle in corners.
The season got off to an unusual start, with the driver beginning the first race in Qatar serving a penalty imposed in the previous season due to an incident with another driver that caused him to break his shoulder blade. At the Sachsenring circuit in Germany, the Portuguese rider achieved the team's only podium finish of the season, coming second in the sprint race. Technical difficulties had been evident up to that point, but this podium finish brought a glimmer of hope, highlighting the need for greater technical support from Aprilia for the team to progress.
However, in the first race of the Asian round in Indonesia, Miguel Oliveira suffered a new injury caused by an electronic failure on his bike, which left him recovering until the Catalan Grand Prix. In a season where he had everything he needed to shine, setbacks prevented him from fully demonstrating his potential and talent.
| Season | Category | Starts | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total | Poles | Bike | Points | Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2024 |
MOTO GP |
13 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Aprillia |
71 |
15 |
|
2023 |
MOTO GP |
17 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Aprillia |
76 |
16 |
|
2022 |
MOTO GP |
20 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
KTM |
149 |
10 |
|
2021 |
MOTO GP |
18 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
KTM |
94 |
14 |
|
2020 |
MOTO GP |
14 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
KTM |
125 |
9 |
|
2019 |
MOTO GP |
16 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
KTM |
33 |
17 |
|
2018 |
MOTO 2 |
18 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
12 |
0 |
KTM |
297 |
2 |
|
2017 |
MOTO 2 |
18 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
9 |
2 |
KTM |
241 |
3 |
|
2016 |
MOTO 2 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Kalex |
33 |
20 |
|
2015 |
MOTO 3 |
17 |
6 |
3 |
0 |
9 |
1 |
KTM |
254 |
2 |
|
2014 |
MOTO 3 |
17 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
Mahindra |
110 |
10 |
|
2013 |
MOTO 3 |
17 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Mahindra |
150 |
6 |
|
2012 |
MOTO 3 |
17 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
Suter Honda |
114 |
8 |
|
2011 |
125cc |
11 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Aprilia |
44 |
14 |