Miguel Oliveira has joined the Aprilia customer team in the 2023 MotoGP season, which will now be known as Trackhouse-Aprilia. Before that, he rode for KTM for four years, achieving five wins and two second places during that time. However, his first year with Aprilia was not as successful due to bad luck and injuries, which caused him to drop from tenth to 16th place in the rider standings. Despite this, Oliveira remains optimistic and says that every change is made with the aim of improving.
It's nothing to say that the only Portuguese entered in MotoGP did not have the first experience with the Noale firm that he hoped for after leaving Mattighofen where he held the upper hand. The expected difficulties of adapting to a new machine, Miguel Oliveira was also pursued by a dark misfortune which took pains to define him as collateral damage from the piloting errors of his colleagues. Unfortunately, he also suffered the torments of the injury which seriously hampered his career in the RS-GP. A misfortune that he will hope to no longer experience in 2024.
« Every change is risky, and every change is made with the intention of improving and not the other way around. And that's always my intention » comments the teammate Raul Fernandez on motorsport total. He worked hard to adapt to theAprilia : " I worked a lot on my driving style because this Aprilia is completely different from the RC16 with which I have been accustomed for the last four years », explains the long-time pilot of KTM. " And I think that also helped me prove to myself that I am able to adapt while remaining competitive. This motivates me to continue ».
Miguel Oliveira: “ I was at a point in my career where I wanted to try something new »
He takes the opportunity to highlight the difference in engine power between the KTM RC16 and the Aprilia RS-GP, as well as the subtleties of the Italian motorcycle: “ compared to the KTM, the Aprilia requires you to be a little more careful with the throttle. On these powerful motorcycles and with the traction control which intervenes a lot, you cannot force the motorcycle. It is therefore about the right finesse at the level of the right wrist. And then driving the motorcycle is completely different ».
« I don't want to go into too much detail, but this is a bike that is quite sensitive when it comes to using the rear brake and how much pressure you put on the front brake to get the bike through the corner. It's tricky in some areas », explains the pilot of 29 years.
Olive tree is convinced that theAprilia has made enormous progress over the years and that they are on the verge of becoming a top motorcycle: “ it's a superb motorcycle. Aprilia has made great progress over the years. And I think we're on the verge of making our motorcycle a dominant machine ". Then he ends by assuming his choice of change: “ I was at a point in my career where I wanted to try something new - something I might not have seen there at KTM where I can only say positive things about my journey ».
