Miguel Oliveira will remember August 6, 2021 with bitterness. MotoGP has concluded its summer break and the bikes are back on track at the Red Bull Ring. His good performances in the last few races before the stop had authorized him to think that he could relaunch himself in the race for the title, but an accident on Friday blocked the progression of the Portuguese.
In the first free practice session of the Styrian Grand Prix, in Spielberg, the traction control on the factory RC16 did not work properly at the exit of turn 3, so Oliveira was thrown into the air and injured his right hand. Despite this, the KTM driver did not have to deal with a stop, even if the discomfort was prolonged: in the second half of the season, in fact, he scored just nine points.
At the last race of 2021, in Valencia, Oliveira stressed how the ranking position was not relevant to him, even if the 14th place finish was a result well below expectations.
“The championship standings reflect a really bad second part of the season,” admitted Oliveira. “The crash was crucial. It wasn’t an injury that stopped me from driving, but it limited me. It was certainly difficult because the problem was my right wrist.”
Miguel Oliveira schaffte es nach dem Sturz bei keinem Rennen in die Top 10
Photo: Motorsport Images
“The rehabilitation process could not be accelerated and it slowed down the natural healing. It limited me more than the team and I expected, so I couldn’t give my best.”
“With my riding style I was often able to get around some of the bike’s flaws, but with the injury I was struggling with a block in that sense. It was a real shame,” he said recalling the second half of the season.
However, things did not go according to plan for Oliveira and KTM even in the first half of the season. It has only been since the Italian Grand Prix that there has been an upward trend. At Mugello he finished second, then he won in Barcelona and took another podium at the Sachsenring.
“My start to the season was bad. I was quite far away in many races,” he explained. “Then, when suddenly I started scoring points, they kept asking me about the championship, even if I didn’t have that in mind. After the start of the second half of the season, I completely stopped looking at the championship standings,” he concluded. the pilot from Pragal.
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