The MotoGP transfer market turns its attention this weekend to the home brand: KTM . Those from Mattighofen announced two important news this morning: the union with GasGas, which will dress the Tech 3 bikes, and the return of Pol Espargaró, who will compete under Hervé Poncharal.
However, the second place of the satellite team remains unknown. And even more so after the press conference this morning, in which Stefan Pierer assured that they are still open to Miguel Oliveira staying at KTM.
“We are basically repeating the offer we made [to Oliveira]. We know that it is not the easiest option, perhaps he did not understand what we were offering him at the beginning, but now with this new project on the table he can understand that we are giving him a role as a factory driver,” Pierer said of the negotiations with the Portuguese driver.
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Everything points to the fact that Oliveira already knows where he will compete in 2023, and could have already signed with Aprilia to race in the RNF (Noale’s satellite structure starting next season). The voices that suggest this movement add that it will not be announced until September 1 for contractual reasons.
But the Portuguese acknowledges that he is still in talks with the Austrian factory. “I spoke with Trunkenpolz and Stefan Pierer before training,” Oliveira commented at the end of FP2. “There is no offer yet, but they have insisted that their intention is for it to remain within the family,” he adds. “I told them I couldn’t give them an answer. I’ll make a decision after the race,” he reveals.
This news catches Remy Gardner by surprise , until now the favorite to get that second KTM (or GasGas, depending on how you want to look at it). “This is the first news I have about it,” he admitted when asked about the negotiations with Oliveira. “I don’t really know what to say. I don’t have any news, so I have to keep working and try to do my best.”
The third in contention would be Raúl Fernández, although the Spaniard seems to be more outside than inside the premier class for 2023. “At the moment I have no news about my future,” he declared at the end of the second free practice session.
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