Portugal’s Miguel Oliveira (KTM) has revealed that he “found” his bike after two days of MotoGP testing, for the MotoGP World Championship, which ended on Wednesday in San Marino.
The Portuguese driver was the 15th fastest of the day, with a time of 1.32.898 minutes, 1.314 seconds faster than the fastest Spanish driver Alex Espargaro (Aprilia), worsening by 0.8 seconds compared to the previous time.
His best lap was 14 of 24 at the Marco Simoncelli circuit, on a day he tested some aerodynamic components and parts for the following season.
“The tests were good because we were more competitive in the lap time. We were able to do a lot of work. Yesterday we tried to determine the setup that suited me to be fast. Today we tested some aerodynamic parts. I hope to translate this into good parts and one good package for the rest of the season. ”, confirmed the pilot from Almada, speaking with reporters after the working session.
Miguel Oliveira was more “satisfied” with the bike he tested after a tough weekend at the San Marino Grand Prix, where he finished 20th.
“We found something in the electronics that was really wrong. We identified the issues and fixed them. I was able to get my bike back, something I didn’t have in the past few races. I think we have a good solution for the next races,” he said.
In response to a question from Lusa, the Portuguese driver refused to reveal the causes of the problems he had faced in the past five races, but was satisfied with the track he found.
“Yes, we figured out what was wrong, but I’m not going to reveal it, these are technical details. We think we’ve solved it, that’s the purpose of the tests. If we don’t find it, we’re amateurs,” stressed Oliveira, who tested parts “for this season and for next season.” “.
The KTM driver doesn’t see a connection between the difficulties he’s had this year in some episodes with the loss of the perks that allowed KTM to do more testing.
Miguel Oliveira really thinks that “at the end of October” it will be possible to “show” that KTM has evolved.
“I left in a better mood than when I got here. I was more competitive, had good times, but we didn’t worry about doing ‘time attacks'” [voltas rápidas]. At the end of October, we will have a chance to show that we have improved. My feeling on the bike is back to normal. We are satisfied.”
The next race will be in Austin, Texas (USA), a circuit where the championship has not been held for two years.
“I have no idea how the bike will behave in Austin. Last time it was my second or third race as a beginner. My review isn’t the best. Let’s see. It’s going to be a weekend of discovery,” he said.
Miguel Oliveira also left a word for Andre Perez, who finished his first MotoGP championship this weekend, for electric motorcycles.
“I would be happy if I could continue to raise the Portuguese flag on the track,” he said.
Wednesday was also marked by the debuts of Raul Fernandez and Remy Gardner for Tech3 KTM, the Austrian home satellite team.
Moto2 riders ranked 21st and 22nd, respectively.
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