The Italian manufacturer Aprilia and what will be its associated team in MotoGP from next year, the RNF of Razlan Razali , announced this Tuesday that the line-up of pilots will be formed by the Portuguese Miguel Oliveira and the Spanish Raúl Fernández, coming from KTM.
Both pilots have signed an agreement for two seasons directly with the manufacturer of Noale , who is the one who will take care of the chip and supply them with the material. Both Miguel and Raúl will have the latest version of the 2022 RS-GP next season, the one that ends this season in Valencia, although with engineers and technicians, monitoring, support and updates from the factory throughout the season.
Oliveira, who has passed through all the categories of the championship at the hands of KTM, made his debut in the premier class in the 2019 season with Tech3, making the leap to the official team two years ago and adding, in these four seasons, as many victories for the Austrian house. Despite being the rider with the most wins, KTM offered the Portuguese to return to the satellite team in 2023 to make room for Jack Miller, who will join the official line-up next year along with Brad Binder. The maneuver was not initially accepted by Oliveira, who closed an agreement with Aprilia. At the last minute, Stefan Pierre, the boss of Mattighofen , tried to convince him to continue with KTM by offering him a succulent financial offer. However, the agreement with Aprilia was closed and the Italians did not contemplate dissolving it, so Olveira had to assume his commitment.
In the case of Raúl Fernández , the young Spanish debutant in the top category, has not been able, at any time during the season, to make the RC16 of the Tech3 team work, and since the beginning of the season he has been looking for a way to get out of KTM. Initially the manufacturer tried to prevent him with a strong escape clause, but during the weekend in Austria the situation relaxed between both parties, so he has been able to commit for the next two seasons with Aprilia.
Oliveira and Fernández join, in this way, the list of drivers from the Noale house, along with Aleix Espargaró and Maverick Viñales, both with contracts until the end of 2024, in addition to the test and development driver Lorenzo Savadori.