A crash at the end of the second MotoGP practice saw Miguel Oliveira stranded in 22nd place on Friday’s Austrian GP. In addition to words of praise for the new chicane, the Red Bull KTM ace spoke regarding his MotoGP future.
Friday’s practice session at the Red Bull Ring was mixed for KTM factory driver Miguel Oliveira. In the first session in the morning he was 13th, 1.666 seconds behind the best time set by Jacke Miller (Ducati). But in the followingnoon’s second practice session, the Portuguese was finally dropped back to 22nd place. The cause of the poor performance was a crash at Turn 9: “A small crash at the end of FP2 destroyed my hopes of improving times, which was very annoying. I hope it stays dry on Saturday morning so I can improve once more,” Oliveira explained the situation.
The tenth in the World Championship has good memories of the slope in Styria, in 2020 he celebrated his first MotoGP victory here. Unlike some of its competitors like Takaaki Nakagami (Honda) or George Martin (Ducati), the 27-year-old likes the new chicane: “It gives the track some emotions. It looks slower than it is, actually it’s quite fluid.”
Oliveira also praised: “The chicane increases the safety of the track enormously. We have to wait for the first lap of the race. The first corner of the chicane is very narrow, I don’t know how many bikes will fit in there at the same time.” With regard to the course of the race, the KTM driver is therefore excited: “I think there is only one fast line to pass the chicane, overtaking there will be difficult.”
© Gold & Goose
Welcome to the race weekend at the Red Bull Ring
© Gold & Goose
Enea Bastianini
© Gold & Goose
Francesco Bagnaia
© Gold & Goose
Alex Rins
© Gold & Goose
Stefan Bradl
© Gold & Goose
Takaaki Nakagami
© Gold & Goose
Jack Miller
© Gold & Goose
fabio quartararo
© Gold & Goose
Maverick Vinales
© Gold & Goose
Marco Bezzecchi
© Gold & Goose
Aleix Espargaró
© Gold & Goose
Francesco Bagnaia
© Gold & Goose
Brad Binder
© Gold & Goose
Red Bull Ring
© Gold & Goose
Alex Rins
© Gold & Goose
johann zarco
© Gold & Goose
Aleix Espargaró
© Gold & Goose
Stefan Bradl
© Gold & Goose
fabio quartararo
© Gold & Goose
Miguel Oliveira
© Gold & Goose
Takaaki Nakagami
© Gold & Goose
George Martin
Oliveira is currently unemployed for the 2023 MotoGP season, and Jack Miller will take his place in the KTM factory team. The Portuguese had rejected a demotion to the Tech3 team. But since the team will start in 2023 with GASGAS as the factory team, Oliveira might reconsider his decision. “I don’t have an offer on the table yet,” he said on Friday in Spielberg. “But of course they have stepped up their efforts to keep me in the KTM family. But at the moment I can neither say yes nor no. »
MotoGP combined times following FP2, Spielberg:
1. Zarco, Ducati, 1: 29.837 min
2. Miller, Ducati, + 0,024 sec
3. Martin, Ducati, +0.029
4. Quartararo, Yamaha, + 0,040
5. Bagnaia, Ducati, + 0.160
6. Marini, Ducati, + 0.193
7. Bezzecchi, Ducati, +0.229
8. Bastianini, Ducati, + 0.229
9. Viñales, Aprilia, + 0.276
10. Brad Binder, KTM, + 0,291
11. Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia, + 0.310
12. Nakagami, Honda, +0.474
13. Rins, Suzuki, + 0,484
14. Pol Espargaro, Honda, +0.527
15. Mir, Suzuki, + 0,618
16. Alex Marquez, Honda, +0.672
17. Morbidelli, Yamaha, +0.780
18. Dovizioso, Yamaha, +0.802
19. Di Giannantonio, Ducati, + 0.863
20. Savadori, Aprilia, + 1,037
21. Bradl, Honda, +1.345
22. Oliveira, KTM, + 1,478
23. Gardner, KTM, + 1,487
24. Darryn Binder, Yamaha, + 1,738
25. Raúl Fernández, KTM, + 2,141
MotoGP result FP1, Spielberg:
1. Miller, Ducati, 1:30,756 min
2. Zarco, Ducati, + 0.618 sec
3. Mir, Suzuki, + 0,820
4. Martin, Ducati, +0.860
5. Quartararo, Yamaha, + 1,017
6. Rins, Suzuki, + 1,119
7. Brad Binder, KTM, + 1,157
8. Nakagami, Honda, +1,185
9. Bastianini, Ducati, + 1,220
10. Dovizioso, Yamaha, +1.251
11. Viñales, Aprilia, + 1.318
12. Bezzecchi, Ducati, + 1,565
13. Oliveira, KTM, + 1,666
14. Alex Marquez, Honda, +1,681
15. Morbidelli, Yamaha, +1,732
16. Bagnaia, Ducati, + 1.757
17. Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia, + 1,801
18. Bradl, Honda, +1.992
19. Di Giannantonio, Ducati, + 2.019
20. Pol Espoargaro, Honda, + 2,149
21. Savadori, Aprilia, + 2,207
22. Marini, Ducati, + 2,242
23. Fernández, KTM, + 3,040
24. Darryn Binder, Yamaha, + 4,316
25. Gardner, KTM, + 4,336
