It promised a lot in the morning, the descent was abrupt in the afternoon. The Catalan Grand Prix is not exactly unknown to Miguel Oliveira, who last season achieved a podium in Moto3, two in Moto2 and a victory in MotoGP, and the first signs were very positive, with an eighth record in the first practice session free practice that he put well above Brad Binder (15th with more than 0.2 tenths) and that opened the possibility of a fight for positions in Q2 to the state of the early afternoon. However, little or nothing had to do with what happened: he finished with time 19, dropped just 0.1 from what he had done and saw the South African finish sixth with 0.8 less. It was a failed session.
Miguel Oliveira in 19th place after free practice at the Catalunya GP
“In the afternoon nothing happened, that’s the problem. With any type of tire on the rear of the bike, nothing worked. The bike is pretty identical in terms of adjustment compared to last year, with the medium tire or the soft tire, I didn’t have any grip bonus, as expected. This morning, on the first start, without any reference, I did 40.9. At the end of the day, with a soft tire in the rear, I do 40.8. It’s weird, I don’t understand why, but now the team has to work better, work harder, to give me a good bike for tomorrow. If we manage to do the time we did last year in FP3, we are in a position to be directly in Q2. But for now, we are far from that and I don’t know what tomorrow will be like. [sábado]but I hope it will be better than it was today”, the Portuguese told SportTV.
A great response: Miguel Oliveira gains six positions and returns to a top 10 at the Italian Grand Prix
“I already had my ideas quite decided at Mugello and I was in that situation all weekend. If it is to affect or work, it is because we are not professionals or enough to know that this time we have to give the best that we can and achieve the best possible results with what we have”, adds still, about a future that begins to be defined behind the scenes. “Everything is on the right track. now it’s a matter of time to be able to say more. As for the process with KTM, obviously nothing is irreversible but I don’t think there is more to add, both on my part and on their part”, said the pilot about the announced divorce with the brand.
The announced goodbye of Miguel Oliveira to KTM (still without an alternative): “My future is going to be bright. I deserve so much more.”
In addition to the frustration with almost no improvement in the bike’s performance from morning to afternoon, Oliveira wanted to start drawing a line between the current season and the next. That is to say, starting from the assumption that KTM will have signed Jack Miller for the factory team, the Portuguese considered that he deserved more than a return to Tech3 (even speaking of the remote possibility of trying to unite the Almada rider with Pol Espargaró). now at Honda) and It was almost a cycle closure. having as main possibilities the LCR (satellite team of Honda), the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team (if promoted from Moto2 after the RNF agreement with Aprilia) and Gresini Ducati (which should be on the verge of losing Enea Bastianini to Ducati) . However, he wanted to continue working as if nothing was going to happen.
Elbow down ✅
knee down ✅#GPCatalan ???? pic.twitter.com/bBhhMXUoY8– KTM Factory Racing (@KTM_Racing) June 3, 2022
That was the big challenge for this Saturday morning, and the comparisons with Binder explained above were important not from the point of view of “rivalry”, but above all to have references of where KTM was, which last year had the best results combined with each other. the two runners in Mugello (2nd/5th), Montmeló (1st/8th) and Germany (2nd/4th). he was behind. Long ago. And in the third free practice session there was never a remote chance of qualifying for Q2, even with Miguel Oliveira running in 22nd place until finishing time 18 (1.39.856), two places behind Brad Binder (1.39.609). ). The top 10 cutoff was made at the time of 1.39.413. Improvements were not yet forthcoming.
More history: Miguel Oliveira wins the Catalan Grand Prix and takes the third victory in MotoGP
Q1 came without Álex Márquez, who suffered a more spectacular crash and had to go to the medical center, and with Miguel Oliveira still with a remote hope of being able to approach the top positions so that, even if he did not advance to Q2, he could get out in at least a fifth row of the starting grid. And he was still in the passing places with Brad Binder with 1:30 left in the session, before falling in exchange with Maverick Viñales and Marco Bezzecchi. The South African missed the last lap after another mistake (he had crashed twice before), the Portuguese did not improve and it was Nakagami who joined Viñales in the passage to Q2, leaving Miguel Oliveira with the sixth time starting from the 16th position.
That was close. Only 0.033 seconds passed between the progression to Q2 this time.
Tomorrow is what counts. We will be sending it from the 15th and 16th on the grid for the #GPCatalan. ???? pic.twitter.com/VkDDWEoUaX
– KTM Factory Racing (@KTM_Racing) June 4, 2022
In Q2, the fight was much livelier, with three of the four best-ranked teams in the World Cup as the main protagonists and probably the trio in the best position at this point to dispute the title. And the pole position ended up smiling at Aleix Espargaro (second of the year after Argentina, where he won the race), who was faster than Pecco Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo. The second row will feature two Pramac drivers, Johann Zarco and Jorge Martín, with Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini) in the middle.
the storm of barns #MotoGP Qualifying has come to an end! ????
We’re ready for a blockbuster #GPCatalan morning! ✅ pic.twitter.com/7XCZAkwTzU
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) June 4, 2022
Source: Observadora
