On this Friday June 18, 2021, Miguel Oliveira answered questions from journalists from the Sachsenring circuit, at the end of the first day of the German Grand Prix.
We went to listen (via teleconferencing software) to the words of the Portuguese rider, who today confirmed the big progress seen by KTM during the last rounds and symbolized by his second place in Mugello as well as his victory in Catalonia ago two weeks. Holder of the best time of the day, number 88 asserts himself as a dominant force this weekend, even if he believes that we will still have to keep an eye on a certain Marc Márquez.
As usual, we report here the words of Miguel Oliveira without the slightest formatting.
Miguel, you achieved the best time of the day. After a difficult start to the season, it must be said that you have experienced a real upturn in performance since your second place in Mugello, and of course your victory in Catalonia. What has actually changed in these last races?
« Looking maybe don't analyze every session we attend, but we do it to ourselves. We have very good pace and overall great potential to be fast on a lot of tracks. During each Grand Prix contested so far, we have always demonstrated a good burst of speed at least during one session, even if most of the time we have not been able to translate this into the race. »
« This unfortunatly therefore gives the illusion that our leap forward only goes back to Mugello, but that is not the reality. We have been working in the shadows, and this probably gives the impression that Mugello was a turning point for us in the season, but in fact it was not. It was a step, certainly, but just a step. »
« Ma second place at Mugello? Only one step in our progress »
You have made serious progress between FP1 and FP2, not only in terms of the time, but also in terms of the regularity displayed. Do you think your place in Q2 is already assured?
« Je I know that everyone is going to be a little faster tomorrow, and my place in Q2 is probably not as guaranteed as that. We'll see what happens tomorrow. We are going to be faster, overall we have been faster race after race, but we still have to remain vigilant and not rest on our laurels after this first place today. »
« Je I'm still looking for speed in a number of places on the track, perhaps in sectors 1 and 2, where we need to be a little more competitive. Afterwards, there is still work to be done in terms of settings and electronics in order to find the right compromise for the race. »
Conditions have been quite windy today, how is this affecting you? Temperatures are expected to rise again, what effect does this have on your confidence level going into turn 11?
« It is good to have warmer temperatures, the temperatures are in the right window for this type of turns. As for the wind, it's true that there was a little more this afternoon, but not to the point of being a disruptive element. We expect very similar conditions tomorrow. »
How much would you say your bike has improved this year?
« Je I think we have reached the stage where we can improve the bike by mainly working on the front tyre. This is a key point for us in terms of how the bike behaves in corners, and being able to fit the softer tire at the front while still being able to consider covering the distance of a race. safe. These are ultimately small things, for the rest we are mainly talking about refinement in terms of settings. »
When we look at the rankings, seeing Marc Márquez so far behind can be misleading. Because if we focus on the rhythm, we would rather say that it will be between you and him this week-end . Do you think this is the most dangerous driver for you?
« Je thinks that from the start Marc is the favorite for victory on Sunday. We tried to look at what he did differently than others on this track, which allows him to be so successful here. I think there are a couple of other drivers who will also be able to play for the win. »
« Right here, The position on the starting grid is very important, and that's what we focus on, in order to then have the right pace in the race. If you start behind, it can indeed be difficult to progress and keep up. The position on the grid will be very important to hope for a good race on Sunday. »
« La position on the grid will be very important to hope to have a good race on Sunday »
MotoGP Sachsenring – Combined FP1 & FP2 results:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
