With no action on the tracks for almost a month – the Dutch Grand Prix was the last one, on June 26 -, MotoGP is going through a period of competitive pause that can, on the other hand, be a time to define pending situations. Particularly in contractual terms, with some pilots still without a defined future. Miguel Oliveira is one of them, as for now his fate for 2023 is still open, due to KTM’s decision to add Brad Binder and Jack Miller to the main team. There are few options left and one of them would be the ‘descent’ to Tech 3, something that the Portuguese doesn’t like… but that Hervé Poncharal, the owner of the French team, sees with good eyes. “I have a special relationship with Miguel. When I heard in Mugello about the possibility of him returning two years later, with the full support of the factory, with a fair and appropriate salary, I thought it would be a good idea. But I understand his actions. you have to be selfish, you have to have a huge ego. If you don’t believe in yourself, if you don’t have a certain pride, you won’t be successful”, began by commenting the Frenchman, to the portal ‘Speedweek’. “I can’t speak for Miguel, but he believes he’s better than Jack [Miller]. And this is normal. He has to think like ‘if KTM puts Jack above me, then that means they’ve lost confidence in me. That must be his line of thinking and I understand his attitude. He thought about KTM’s offer for a couple of days. But when we were on the grill, his dad informed Pit Beirer that they could no longer count on him. I would love to have Miguel in the team, but I have to accept his decision”, assumed Poncharal, who was Miguel Oliveira’s first ‘boss’ in his early years in MotoGP.
Poncharal even links this reaction of the Portuguese to another, when in 2020, after Johann Zarco left the official KTM, the Austrian team decided to bet on Brad Binder to the detriment of the Portuguese. “You can see that Miguel is very sensitive and allergic to these types of events. The second time this happens, he immediately told KTM ‘forget about me!'”
Miguel Oliveira, remember, has a link with KTM until the end of this year, and for now the Aprilia WithU-RNF, commanded by Razlan Razali, is the best placed to secure the 27-year-old Portuguese rider.
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