Miguel Oliveira’s season could be defined as unstable. Although KTM’s Portuguese rider started the year with a victory under the Indonesian storm, he only scored points in two of the first seven Grands Prix.
However, since the Italian GP, Oliveira seems to have regained regularity in his results, always finishing inside the Top10.
The Portuguese lands in Austria , home GP for his team, in tenth place overall; a place that hopes to improve in this second half of the season.
“It’s our home race, and it’s always exciting to race here,” he explained to reporters on Thursday. “It’s where we can feel the enthusiasm of the fans.” “I have always liked this circuit and I have always achieved good results on it, both in MotoGP and Moto2,” he said.
“We are focused on starting the weekend in good shape. The last race went well for us; I had a good race, if not the best of the whole year,” he adds.
His performance, and that of his teammate Brad Binder, has improved a series of aspects in the RC16 that especially affect them in the qualifying sessions . “From a technical point of view, it’s hard to single out one thing out of everything that’s failing. Our weak points are braking and cornering; it seems that acceleration isn’t too bad.”
But Oliveira does not expect solutions to arrive before his departure from the team. “It’s something we have to improve, but I don’t think we’re going to be able to do it for the rest of the season. Maybe for next year they can make the big changes that are needed.”
The number #88 has also spoken about the new chicane installed at the Red Bull Ring, and warns that it is “more complicated than it seems at first glance”. “It’s slow, with 90º corners, and we’re going to have to change things to adapt the bike, but I don’t think it’s going to be very difficult [to adapt the bike].
Regarding the hegemony of Ducati on that track, put in doubt with the introduction of the chicane, Oliveira ventures that “they will continue to be fast”.
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