After the good performances achieved at the Barcelona circuit in 2023, it is with great confidence that Miguel Oliveira is ready for another weekend of competition in MotoGP, on a track that he knows well and on which he rode at a very young age.
Sixth in the Sprint and fifth in the long race, the Portuguese from Trackhouse Racing recalled the positive memories he has of the Spanish track, as he already won there in MotoGP – in 2021:
– It’s always nice to come to Barcelona. It’s a track that is a part of my early days in racing – I have always raced in Barcelona. I have a good memory here with Aprilia from last year and hopefully will be able make an even more memorable one this season. It’s a quite technical track; you need to pay a lot of attention to the first chicane, you can lose a lot of time there. Then there’s the fast section and the double right corners in the last sector.
The track is also known for being one of the tracks with the lowest grip on the calendar and this really earned a comment from the Portuguese, who will take extra care with tyre management, as he explained: ‘As it’s a track that doesn’t have much grip, you always need to manage the tires to be competitive through to the end of the Grand Prix. I’m really confident for Barcelona’.
In his history at the Catalunya GP, in MotoGP, Miguel Oliveira has a 12th in his debut year in the category (2019), he did not complete the race the following year (2020), he won the following year, he was ninth in 2022 and last year, as mentioned, was sixth and fifth.