The feat achieved on Sunday by Brad Binder by winning the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic during his third race in MotoGP as well as, to a lesser extent, the media gesticulations of a Pol Espargaró very angry to see KTM's first victory in MotoGP to escape him, have somewhat obscured the good performance of Miguel Oliveira in Brno.
Beyond his solid sixth position at the finish followingAlex Rins et Valentino Rossi, the pilot Red Bull KTM Tech3 showed a similar race pace to the winner, once the negative consequences of his modest qualification were overcome.
While Brad Binder, qualified 7th, appeared 5th at the end of the first round, Miguel Oliveira went from 13th to 14th position at the same time, before beginning a comeback which, after having doubled Danilo Petrucci, Andrea Dovizioso, Takaaki Nakagami, Maverick Viñales, Aleix Espargaró and Fabio Quartararo, saw him finish his race just under eight seconds behind the winner.
Suffice to say that the Portuguese rider, already very present in Jerez, could soon materialize this general rise in power of the KTMs for his own account.
Here are all of his comments collected during his debriefing after a race where, visibly, Miguel Oliveira feels a little bad for not having qualified better… or for the unexpected victory of his future teammate.
Miguel Oliveira : " I expected a good race and in the end I am of course happy with the result but I have the feeling that if my position on the grid had been a little better the result could have been completely different. And that's really the only negative point of this weekend. I think the crash in FP3 really cost me a place in Q2, and there's not much else to say about it. When you start from thirteenth position, I overtook a few drivers, but it's not easy to come back very quickly. As soon as you lose the potential of the tire, after the first seven laps, you can have a better pace but... you know, my pace was pretty similar to Brad's the whole race from lap seven onwards, and that's also one of the reasons that make me happy. It's definitely a result that motivates us to get to a place where I think we'll perform very well over the next two weekends. »
How do you explain the performance of the KTMs today, and what can still be improved?
« It's hard to say what made the difference. I think our bike worked pretty well, but that was also the case in the last few races. In Jerez, all three of us were very fast. Iker too but he was a little behind us, although also competitive. I think our package is much stronger, as I've been saying for a while, and we have a better chance of performing well in the races. Here, with relatively little grip, it gives us an advantage that we can play with, braking hard and not spending too much time on the corner. We therefore do not force too much on the tire and this is one of our strong points. Once we understand how to ride like that, then it becomes easy. »
« Of course, we didn't expect this win, because no one in particular expected or predicted that Brad could win, but there he was and he took his chance. I think he did a good job and showed the potential of the bike, and at the same time, coming back a little from the back myself, I showed great speed. So going into the next two events, the only thing we can focus on about our bike is our job and finding the set-up for the weekend, and hopefully the results will come. »
Are you a little jealous of Brad Binder's victory?
« Of course, I was happy for Brad, because I don't know what I could have done better during this race. What cost me victory today was qualifying. So I'm not jealous of Brad because he did a good job and drove well. He's really confident in his front, which is surprising (laughs), so he's driving well and there's nothing else to say about that. I think I had my best race in MotoGP so far, so when you give your best, there's nothing else you can ask for, even if the other guy wins. I think now that we have proven that our bike can win, the tendency to compare will be less. We have to do our job and just focus on ourselves, and not pay attention to these comparisons which I think are unnecessary. Of course, it is now a benchmark for us in terms of technical settings, and we have to take advantage of it. »
Can you give any advice to Iker Lecuona, who is having a difficult time in MotoGP?
« I think I disagree with you that he's having a hard time, because that's an opinion and not a fact. Iker does a very good job. He is still very young and if you look at his experience in Moto2, it is not huge in terms of the number of victories and podiums. Coming up to MotoGP was a very difficult challenge to adapt to this bike. It is not easy to arrive in MotoGP and perform well. The other three KTM riders are going very fast and I think we have set the bar very high for him. So I just think he's doing well. If he continues to focus on himself and work hard, I think he will get the results we have. Technically, he improves a lot in each race and he sets good times, compared to us. His time will come. »
We arrive in Austria, which is a circuit favoring power. How does KTM compare to Ducati and Honda in this area?
« We saw it last year, it could be a very good circuit for us. I think in terms of speed we are doing better than last year. But it's not just about speed or power, because you also have to brake, and in this area too our package is a little better than last year. The bike provides good feedback and confidence to its rider. I don't think we have a big problem when it comes to horsepower, so we'll see if we can handle everything else, like tire and gas, the latter being important for everyone and everyone trying to save fuel during the race. We will see. For sure, one of the things I'm going to focus on on Friday is qualifying well, because we know that from now on the final result will depend on the starting position. So we need to focus on that. »
MotoGP Czech Republic Grand Prix standings:
Photo credit and rankings: MotoGP.com
