We thought Miguel Oliveira's fate in the championship was sealed from the first two Grands Prix in Qatar. His KTM did not digest the new Michelin allocation, a handicap that he brought back to Europe, with, in particular, the great disappointment of a national failure at Portimao. A route that he had dominated so well during the last months of 2020. And then the miracle happened: the RC16 was transformed at Mugello, an improvement confirmed in Catalonia. And here Oliveira is surprisingly relaunched in the title race…
To fully understand the extent of the recovery, it is necessary to remember that Miguel Oliveira marked 45 of 50 points offered during the last two events. In just eight days, he went from 20th to seventh place in the championship, propelling his employer KTM in the manufacturers' ranking in third place, ahead of Suzuki et Honda...
En Catalonia, it struck observers. So, Dennis Noyes commented : " Oliveira had the same pace in the race as in previous days, which Quartararo did not do. Somehow all the Yamahas seemed to have lower pace than the FP4. It was the best race he had in the three wins he had, he led and he took care of the tires ».
Speaking of tires, Olive tree did not hide the fact that he had listened to the advice of Dani Pedrosa on the starting grid taking on the tough guys… Dani Pedrosa, the man who does so much good to KTM which is currently sorely lacking in Honda... " I think Honda's biggest mistake was letting Dani Pedrosa go. KTM has the characteristics of the Honda, it wins in braking, has very good acceleration and is not far behind the Ducati in speed » said the same noyes.
Pedrosa undoubtedly, the KTM also, but Olive tree also has its part in this newfound success. Marco Melandri thus clarifies that the Portuguese has always been underestimated. Except by him: “ I've been following him since he was in Moto3 and I've always liked him a lot. He has always been, in my opinion, one of the strongest drivers of all time. But he's not one of the most charismatic, maybe he doesn't excite like the others. But in my opinion he is one of the most capable: he has intelligence, technique... everything. I had already said it since Saturday in Catalonia, because the KTM is going strong. The bike curves tight, it turns on the engine... Quartararo could not have overtaken him ».
Oliveira: “you can never be too sure of your cause in MotoGP”
It remains to be seen whether these qualities will continue to assert themselves during the next Grands Prix: “ for me, yes, he will often be in front. I don't know if it will be all the time, he will surely play other podiums and races » says Melandri. And the main interested party? He declares : " I would like to answer this question with a 'YES'. But you can never be too sure of your cause in MotoGP ».
« Each track has its particularities and you have to work on so many details every weekend to be able to reach the finish, so you can show a good performance in the free practice sessions and in qualifying. At the moment I can say that the KTM is competitive on all circuits. We can even achieve great results on tracks where we have had problems in the past. I hope we can do it on the next circuits too ».
He ends with this clarification which is not insignificant: “ This season we have some uncertainties because we are going to circuits that we did not race on in 2020, for example Sachsenring, Assen, Silverstone and some overseas Grand Prix. I hope that we will be able to perform well on Friday »
MotoGP Championship after Catalonia (7/19):
