MotoGP rider Miguel Oliveira enters a season as a father for the first time in 2022: What it means to him and why he considers himself lucky despite the longest race calendar
Miguel Oliveira is about to enter his fourth MotoGP season. For this one, the KTM factory rider expects to look at successes as well as failures from a different angle. Oliveira has three Grand Prix victories in the premier class so far, the first two still for Tech-3-KTM.
The 2022 season, which opens with the Qatar Grand Prix on 6 March, will be Oliveira’s first as a father. Shortly before Christmas, his partner Andreia gave birth to their daughter Alice. For the 27-year-old Portuguese, a lot has changed with the offspring.
“It’s one of those events that changes your life,” Oliveira confesses. “The atmosphere at home is just different because the schedules and routines are just different. But of course I’m very grateful for every moment I get to spend with her. “
While the 2022 MotoGP calendar is more extensive than ever before, with 21 races. Oliveira, however, sees the positive side of this: “We can consider ourselves lucky that the time we are away from home is still within acceptable limits. “
“So we also have an acceptable amount of time to spend with family members,” says the KTM rider and compares: “Truck drivers, for example, are away from home for a fortnight. Then they come home for four days. Then they are away again for a fortnight.”
But for Oliveira, it’s not the number of days at home that makes family life so special for him anyway. “It’s not the quantity, it’s the quality of the time I spend with them,” he says, explaining, “Whenever I’m at home with them, I’m with them physically and mentally. That’s what it’s all about.”
Being a father brings Oliveira “a new perspective on life and how intensively I pursue my goals”. After all, while for years he raced “only” for himself, his supporters and the team, now he also has his own young family to race for: “I do it for me, but I also do it for them. That’s something that gives me even more motivation and drives my will to become even stronger. “
