The Mugello circuit will always have a special place on Miguel Oliveira’s motorcycle route. Right at the top, for being the place where he got his first victory in the Moto3 World Championship, in 2015. Then, for being the track where he got his first win in the last year racing in Moto2, in 2018, when he lost the Championship to Pecco Bagnaia scoring 297 points. The next one, because it was the weekend that opened the best moment of last year’s season, with three podium finishes and four consecutive top fives. It was there in Italy where he would try a new beginning of the year 2022, marked not only by the rumors about his future but also by the fall three laps from the end in Le Mans, which was a serious blow in the World Championship.
From dream to nightmare: Miguel Oliveira starts 17th, enters the top 10 but falls while fighting for eighth place at the French Grand Prix
“Yes, the Tech3 issue is something that KTM has already told me about. It’s a very recent thing for me. Now I ask myself several times: What could you have done differently? And what else can I do? What else can I do to get to the same position that I have now? I still don’t have an answer for that. I know that there are not many places available in the factory teams. At the moment there are many pilots but not many places. My ambition is to continue racing for a top team,” he told Speedweek, admitting for the first time the possibility that the team could take a step back from KTM.
A dream start, a flawless race, a controversial finish: Oliveira finishes second, is penalized but maintains his position in Italy
There are more open stages as well as a return to Tech3, where he scored his first MotoGP victories in Styria and Portugal. The most recent is LCR, the Honda satellite team that can look favorably on the Portuguese rider and that will have made exploratory contacts with its representatives. Another already mentioned is Yamaha, in this case in a scenario where it promoted its Moto2 team, the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team, to keep its satellite after the agreement between RNF and Aprilia. Everything is on top, but the most important thing now would be have good results again in the World Cup, something that was not possible in the first two free practices in which he ran outside the top 10 and behind teammate Brad Binder.
The hills come alive with the sound of m̶u̶s̶i̶c̶… RC16s. ????#GPItalian ????????? pic.twitter.com/hRM5bei4rB
– KTM Factory Racing (@KTM_Racing) May 27, 2022
“We had two different sessions. We had a lot of warmed up tires on assignment that had already been warmed up at another Grand Prix. We had to use them as quickly as possible. In the morning of FP1 the medium rear tire was very bad for me and in the afternoon the soft compound didn’t give me any extra grip. But I feel like we’re not missing out on much. At the same time, position 15 gives us no reason to smile. We just have to keep working and see what’s in store for us on Saturday”, he said, before finishing the third free practice session of the morning in 14th position, this time ahead of Binder (19th).
Bye, good morning.
It’s qualifying day here in the Tuscan hills, but first… it’s time for FP3. ????#GPItalian ????????? pic.twitter.com/JY15CUNsyF
– KTM Factory Racing (@KTM_Racing) May 28, 2022
The novelty of the late morning/early afternoon at Mugello was the appearance of rain and automatically all attention was focused on Miguel Oliveira. understand why and the Portuguese did not take long to give reason for the realization, jumping immediately to the first position of Q1 without Jack Miller, another driver who also does well in the rain, failing to beat the time of 1.55.380. In the middle, and in a canyon turn that left everyone surprised without realizing if the asphalt had suddenly dried or if some other different phenomenon had occurred, Brad Binder took the lead with 1.52.402, almost three seconds less than his KTM partner. they all went to boxes change bikes for the final part.
The changes had practical effects, with the threat of breaking into the top two for some riders before Michele Pirro achieved the goal, making his Ducati debut. Miguel Oliveira had three and a half minutes left for Q2, which in that context was favorable, but the dance of positions at the head began to be much greater than expected, with Marc Márquez and Jack Miller in front and the Portuguese in the lead . fifth on the penultimate lap before a few final seconds where several motos had a red light (time improvement) in the opening sectors. Brad Binder missed the top 2, Oliveira even jumped into the qualifying zone but Fabio Di Giannantonio and Marc Márquez stayed on the final flying lap with qualifying for Q2, ahead of Jack Miller, Michele Pirro and Miguel Oliveira.
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Source: Observadora
