Tests are tests and pilots don’t always “give it all” or show their true potential, but certainly no one likes to have less positive results and, for now, in this first three-day test session, Miguel Oliveira did not have a truly surprising performance.
The Portuguese rider is in Sepang with his new team (in name), but with the same people in the garage and a new bike to attack 2024, the latest version of the Aprilia RS-GP.
On the first day, the Portuguese rider was 15th with a time of 1:58.750s, completed a total of 54 laps, and finished 0.799s behind the day’s leader, Jorge Martín. Among the Aprilias, Maverick Viñales stood out in sixth place (1:58.470s), with Aleix Espargaró in 13th (1:58.738s), and Raúl Fernández, with only 21 laps and the 2023 bike, suffered a highside and stopped testing, finishing the day with the 22nd time, 2:00.120s.
On the second day, #88 improved his time by 0.201s, thus running in 1:58.549s, however, he saw the competition improve even more and “fell” to 19th place. He completed 56 laps and said goodbye with 1.415s behind the fastest on the track, now Enea Bastianini. Aleix Espargaró improved significantly and finished 4th (1:57.446s), Viñales was just above Oliveira with a lap time of 1:58.456s. Raúl Fernández was not on the track.
To finish the tests, Oliveira once again failed to impress compared to the competition: 18th with his best lap in 1:58.000s (19th out of a total of 55), 1.318s behind Pecco Bagnaia, and repeated… the worst place among the Aprilias. Aleix ‘Capitão’ Espargaró was once again the best of the Noale manufacturer, with the 5th time (1:57.091s), and Viñales climbed to 12th place (1:57.528s).
It is also important to mention that, despite the less competitive times, Oliveira beat Bagnaia and Jack Miller – among others on day 1 – and was also very close (0.005s) to Marco Bezzecchi, third in the 2023 championship, on day 3. There is certainly room for improvement and Oliveira will have the same weapons as the factory riders this year to compete with them and go further.
Tests are just that, but they will always be an indication of what can happen in the season, and certainly Miguel Oliveira is the first one not to be happy with the recorded times.
