The Portuguese will face in this 2022 his second course in the factory team of the Austrian brand, with which he has already achieved three victories since he debuted in the heavy motorcycle category, in 2019, precisely in the satellite formation of Hervé Poncharal .
The last of those triumphs was awarded to him last year in Montmeló, in that grand prix that Fabio Quartararo had absolutely dominated until the zipper of his suit opened and forced him to complete the last laps bare-chested.
In 2021, KTM KTM lost the concessions and this had the foreseeable impact on the results of the company from Mattighofen , which finished penultimate in the classification reserved for manufacturers, one position behind the one it occupied in 2020 (fourth).
To try to recover the dynamic that led KTM to become the sensation two years ago, those responsible, with Stefan Pierre , its CEO, at the helm, have recruited a couple of pieces that they hope will be key to bringing about this change in trend. .
In addition to Fabiano Sterlacchini , formerly of Ducati and who will occupy the role of technical director, the arrival of Francesco Guidotti as sports director was also announced this winter. In short, KTM is willing to do anything to stay on top of things and get its head back to the front of the races; something that Miguel Oliveira believes is not as far away as it might have seemed last season.
Raúl Fernández and Remy Gardner, two unquestionable talents who, once they adapt to the new category, can complicate things for both him and Binder, will also undoubtedly have to help.
“It’s a question of time. I think that [when they adapt] they will be as fast as us. They are two very fast riders; the two fastest that KTM could catch from Moto2”, Oliveira defines them, especially curious to see the skills from Spanish.
“Raúl has already shown that he can easily reach the limit, so I think he will be fast from the start of the championship. And I think that is positive, because if they go fast we can improve ourselves too. They may put a little pressure on us, but that will make us go faster”, recounts the runner from Pragal, who last year added three podiums in total, highly conditioned by the hand injury he sustained at the Red Bull Ring.
For the #88, the key that he is looking for with a view to the championship that will start in Qatar on March 6 lies in the perseverance that was lacking in 2021 and in not rushing, but going step by step or obsessing over overly ambitious goals. “You don’t have to think about the title, because for that to stop many things have to come together. For now I prefer to focus on perseverance. When we have completed half of the races then we will think about our position in the World Championship”, concludes Oliveira.
