From 16th on the grid into the Top 4: Aprilia rider Miguel Oliveira misses out on podium at Silverstone MotoGP race by just 0.070 seconds
RNF-Aprilia rider Miguel Oliveira produced an impressive recovery in the MotoGP race at Silverstone. Starting from the sixth row, Oliveira made up positions from lap to lap and got closer and closer to the leading group. When it rained in the meantime, Oliveira risked more than the leading riders and was rewarded for the risk.
In the end, he finished just 0.750 seconds behind winner Aleix Espargaro in the main race and just missed the podium by 0.070 seconds: fourth place for Oliveira, who has already had to deal with a number of setbacks in the current MotoGP season.
“It was a strong weekend for all the Aprilias and I’m happy to have made it into the top 5,” Oliveira commented. Indeed, the weekend in Britain went very well for Aprilia. Aleix Espargaro took the first win of the season for the Noale-based manufacturer. Miguel Oliveira and Maverick Vinales finished in the top five and Raul Fernandez was tenth. For the first time, all four Aprilias finished in the top 10.
Great risk taking flushes Miguel Oliveira towards the top
With fourth place, Oliveira secured his best result of the season. “It was a good result considering I came from P16. I was close to the podium and the win. The rain certainly helped me make up some time,” noted the Portuguese rider.
“I risked more and was lucky not to crash,” Oliveira explains. “As soon as you see the raindrops on the visor, you take a bit more care. It’s strange because you have to keep pushing to keep the tyres at temperature. If you drive too carefully, it gets worse in parts. But if you attack too hard, you crash. It’s difficult to know the limit. “
In the battle for P3 he lost to ex-KTM teammate Brad Binder by less than a tenth of a second. “It’s a shame I couldn’t keep Brad behind me. I gave it my all until the last corner, but it wasn’t enough for an overtaking manoeuvre,” Oliveira fretted.
Success after a so far mixed season
However, P4 is a sense of achievement for the 28-year-old Aprilia rider. “It’s a good drive and really great from a mental point of view. It’s good that physically I’m completely fit again,” enthused Oliveira, who has already had to overcome a number of injuries this season.
However, the race was not completely without discomfort. “The forearm caused me some problems this weekend though. That was also the case in the race. The final laps were difficult for me,” Oliveira admits.
Miguel Oliveira: 2022s Aprilia a big disadvantage?
The fact that he is only getting last year’s material from Aprilia this year didn’t affect performance too much. “We are riding the 2022 bike and we know that it is the bike we have to cope with. We have to try to squeeze the package as much as we can,” he commented.
Will there be any updates as the season progresses? “It is possible that we will get some things. I don’t expect these things to change my bike fundamentally because the bikes are quite different. But the performance is not that much different,” he compares his Aprilia with the current factory bike.
