Pilot Miguel Oliveira (Aprilia) expressed his “heart full” today with the support of the public, although the result was not what he wanted in the MotoGP Portuguese Grand Prix race, which took place in Portimão.
«I have no words to describe all the support the public showed. It was simply a dream weekend, despite the result. I know that the support is unconditional and my heart is full for it», said the Portuguese pilot.
Speaking to journalists, at the end of the MotoGP race, in which he finished in ninth place, more than 23 seconds behind the winner, Miguel Oliveira noted that the only support he saw like that was from the Italian Valentino Rossi, seven-time world champion in the category. .
«I’ve been doing the World Championship for around 14 years and the only support I’ve seen from the public for a rider specifically was just Valentino Rossi», he pointed out.
The driver from Almada considered that he had «a good race, with a good start, where he managed to have more stability on the bike, after some adjustments».
“I rode the most stable bike of the weekend today, which represents some sign of improvement and, therefore, I am slightly happier”, he pointed out.
In Oliveira’s opinion, the classification “could have been different” when, with six laps remaining in the race, he was running in ninth position and lost three positions, falling to 12th place.
«[Marco] Bezzecchi overtook me at the end of the straight and forced me to widen my trajectory a lot. When I entered the track I had lost three positions,” he lamented.
However, he added that ninth place “is not at all a negative result”, saying that it is “necessary from now on to rebuild all the work, base and confidence”.
Asked whether the start of the World Cup was going according to forecasts, Oliveira said that “according to how the tests went, yes”.
«I would like to be able to demonstrate a little more, but I have had a lot of setbacks with the bike, not getting the setting right. The team is having a lot of difficulties,” he described.
For Miguel Oliveira, «it’s not enough to have an Aprilia bike» at the front that serves as a reference: «the team has to do a lot of work to be able to give me the tools I need».
After two races, the Portuguese occupies 14th place in the World Championship, with eight points, 52 behind the leader, the Spaniard Jorge Martin (Ducati).
