“I want to stay close,” Miguel Oliveira sets objectives for MotoGP’s 2023 pre-season test

Miguel Oliveira assesses objectives for Pre-season test.

Miguel Oliveira

Miguel Oliveira is excited for the commencement of the 2023 season. This season will mark the Portuguese rider’s first with new team RNF Racing. Oliveira raced for the KTM Factory team in 2021 and 2022. He moves to Aprilia’s satellite team RNF Racing with the hopes of achieving more success than he has been able to in the past.

Oliveira will pilot the Aprilia RS-GP for the first time in the 2023 MotoGP pre-season test in Sepang later this week. This will be Oliveira’s first go on a MotoGP bike produced by a manufacturer other than KTM. Notably, the Portuguese rider has been closely associated with KTM since his Moto3 days in 2015.

Oliveira is excited about exploring a new machine during his pre-season test and has clearly stated the objectives for his first outing in an Aprilia bike. “It would be super nice, if I could be close to Aleix [Espargaro] and Maverick [Viñales] in this test. It’s definitely a goal to be near the factory guys,” he said in an interview while highlighting his need to adapt to the new challenge.

FS Video

Miguel Oliveira will have to “get used to” new machinery

The Portuguese rider also revealed plans to test some parts on his bike. This will be done in order to ensure Oliveira is comfortable in his transition from KTM to Arpilia equipment. “We are expecting some little things to test, not a lot though. Our main job is to build a strong base and understand what can work for me and what might not work. It’s a test, where we will filter a couple of things. The base is just me getting used to the bike.” he said.

Miguel Oliveira x Aprilia

Cannot wait to see what he can do#MotoGP pic.twitter.com/79MbRnCkAN
— Everything Moto Racing (@everythingmrace) January 29, 2023

While satellite teams have historically not been as competitive as Factory teams owing to machinery limitations, Oliveria certainly hopes to close the gap to Aprilia. Notably, the factory team are coming off a solid year performance wise. Aprilia finished 3rd in the Constructor’s standings, just 8 points behind Yamaha. It will be interesting to see if RNF Racing is able to capitalize on their manufacturer’s recent stroke of success.