KTM official Oliveira reassures fans of the brand: they should not focus on the timesheet for the tests taking place in Qatar. Appearances are deceiving: in fact, everything is fine. Certainly, but a spark in the form of lightning on a timed lap would still definitely reassure. Because the drivers of the Austrian brand have not been celebrating since the start of this off-season concentrated over five days at Losail. And there are only two left before the big jump into the 2021 campaign...
Miguel Oliveira is not the type to panic and this character trait stands out all the more when the reasons for satisfaction seem few at the end of a day of testing. This was the case Wednesday in Losail. And the Portuguese double winner MotoGP with the RC16 last year put itself in front of its troops: “ It was a typical test day, where the goal was to evaluate new parts and not to chase times. Regarding our performance, we improved the lap times a little, but not enough. But the potential for better times is there. And the rhythm is impressive ».
He nevertheless admits: “ we are not yet competitive enough to be close to the leading group. But we still have two days to improve ». Olive tree is therefore not concerned about the positions of the Austrian motorcycles in the ranking: “ if it was the Saturday after qualifying for the first Grand Prix, I would start thinking. But now we still have enough time to find better solutions. So there is still no reason to worry ».
Brad Binder complained of not having a good feeling from the front, so he crashed three times on Saturday and Sunday. There too, Olive tree explain : " the layout of this track is delicate. Also, the tire compounds that Michelin brought to Qatar work for a few laps, but for us at KTM it is tedious to get them to a temperature where it is safe to push. If you fall, you will lose some confidence in the front tire. And that happened a little bit with Brad, I think ».
Oliveira: “There is no reason to worry”
« But with me, things are fine. Of course, there is always room for improvement, especially if we miss out on first place by more than a second. Losail doesn't have the best track layout for testing. But we still have to do it here ». Olive tree tried the modified RC16 engine in the 2021 version for the first time on the third day of testing. “ The new engine gave me a positive impression from the start. That's why I spent most of the time with him. KTM has lost the “concessions”. Therefore, they had to build a new engine specification ».
« For the first time, we are no longer allowed to use two engines like our opponents. KTM must therefore choose a different strategy, the engines must stay running longer and cover more kilometers. Today we wanted to know if the new engines have any disadvantages. But there wasn't any. It was a problem-free engine test. " finished Olive tree. The times are just missing...
MotoGP Test Qatar 2 J1: times
