It is what everyone seeks to know, it is what everyone already knows unofficially, it is what in public terms remains to be known. Miguel Oliveira was an inescapable figure on the track last weekend, coming from 13th to sixth after overtaking Aleix Espargaró, Quartarato and Álex Rins in the final five laps at Silverstone, and was also once again out of the circuit, stay on topic. of the future in MotoGP from 2023. A future that, according to him, is decided, closed and pending confirmation when contractual issues with your current team are resolved. And a future that, in the absence of other types of announcements, continues to be revealed… by others.
Fifth consecutive top 10, third best result of the season: Falcão Oliveira flies to sixth position at the British GP
From people linked in various ways not directly to Aprilia to the Tech3 boss himself, from KTM (which only now has Pit Beirer taking on the bid for a new generation rider for the satellite team), everyone was talking about the decision that it was taken for granted. . Now it was also Ducati’s turn to address the issue as if everything was official. assuming “defeat” for the RNF and explaining what went wrong in the process.
“The father reported that they could no longer count on him”: KTM “give up” with Miguel Oliveira and change to RNF Aprilia takes more strength
“We had a conversation with him. [Miguel] Oliveira but also with Raúl Fernández. The situation with Oliveira seemed positive but at one point we needed the approval of Gresini Racing, because it is a customer team. we pay the salary [Enea] Bastianini this year because it was a special situation, because he has a contract with us, but in principle we only want to pay Lenovo and Pramac drivers. Customer teams must consult us but make their own decisions because we cannot financially support eight riders”, Paolo Ciabatti, Ducati sports director, began by explaining to the Speedweek portal. In other words, the idea of the transalpines is to pay the salaries of the four main riders, who at the moment are Pecco Bagnaia, Jack Miller (exit to KTM), Johann Zarco and Jorge Martín, leaving the rest in charge. Gresini Racing and VR46 Racing Team.
“My goal is to have a competitive bike and that is the case with Ducati.” Miguel Oliveira confirms rumors but says he has an “open future”
“That’s why it took us a while to reach an agreement with Oliveira. Meanwhile, Aprilia has reached an agreement with Razlan Razali’s RNF team. They made Oliveira a good offer and he decided to accept it. It is understandable, because at that time We were not in a position to present them with a deal.” admitted Ciabatti about a stage in which everything pointed to Gresini Racing winning the race, before having to leave for another solution and having already officially announced Álex Márquez for 2023.
Now it’s (almost) official: Miguel Oliveira will switch to Aprilia. What’s missing? “Everything is ready, but if skating costs a huge fine…”
“It is true that I spoke with Miguel Oliveira and his father Paulo in the Gresini garage in Barcelona. We talked about the possibility of him going to Ducati but there was never any talk of contracts or values”, continued the official about the famous image taken at the Catalan Grand Prix.
“I cannot announce due to contractual terms but my future will be in MotoGP for many years”: Miguel Oliveira’s return to the World Championship
“We knew what he wanted, but we had to reach an agreement with Gresini. It is obvious that Oliveira is a super fast driver, he has four wins, but we are not alone in the world. While we were trying to reach an agreement with Gresini to pay him his salary, Aprilia was faster. There he will have a direct contract with the factory and, since he did not want to go to Tech3, but he did not want to be out of work either, he turned to Aprilia. Agreement was not reached for reasons of moment“, he is stressed.
“I don’t make decisions based on the money I make. I see myself as a top-level driver”: Miguel Oliveira talks about the future again
“Aprilia is quite competitive. If you look at what Aleix Espargaró and Viñales are doing, I think Miguel Oliveira will be able to do the same or better”, Ciabatti also stood out. It should be noted that, at this point, Aleix Espargaró is in second position in the World Cup, 22 points behind the leader and world champion Fabio Quartararo (180-158), while Maverick Viñales is in ninth position with 82 points, one plus. than Miguel Oliveira. The results of the RNF, still in collaboration with Yamaha, have already left a lot to be desired, with Darryn Binder and Andrea Dovizioso outside the top 20 overall.
Source: Observadora
