Miguel Oliveira suffered his sixth retirement of the MotoGP season this Sunday. In the Thai GP, the rider was forced to withdraw after the seventh lap due to technical problems with the Aprilia when he was last.
This is the sixth time that the CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team rider has not finished a race this year. The first occasion was in the Portuguese GP, when he was hit by Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) at the start.
After that, there was another premature withdrawal in Spain. The following episode was in Italy, with the retirement being repeated in the Netherlands, Austria, and now Thailand. In Japan, Oliveira also did not finish the race, returning to the pits just before the red flag, but the classification order determined that he would be classified in 18th – the position he held before going to the garage.
Twice (2012 and 2021), he had recorded five races not finished. Now, he has surpassed that mark. In addition, having failed to finish two of the 17 rounds so far, “Falcão” has a retirement rate above 35 percent, only surpassed by the over 36 percent recorded in 2011 (four retirements in 11 races).
Furthermore, this has been a challenging season for Oliveira from the start, with an injury following the accident in Portimão. A new injury due to an accident in the Spanish GP meant that he missed two of the initial five rounds, all this in the midst of adapting to a new team (RNF MotoGP) and a new bike (Aprilia RS-GP).
Despite strong results such as fourth place in Great Britain and fifth place in Catalonia, the process of acclimatization and gaining confidence may have been affected, consequently influencing performances and results. There are three Grand Prix races left until the end, with the winter break and precious time for Oliveira to recover with a view to 2024.Miguel Oliveira’s retirements per season (rounded percentages up):
2011 (125cc): 4 retirements in 11 races (36.4%)
2012 (Moto3): 5 retirements in 17 races (29.4%)
2013 (Moto3): 1 retirement in 17 races (5.9%)
2014 (Moto3): 3 retirements in 18 races (16.6%)
2015 (Moto3): 1 retirement in 18 races (5.6%)
2016 (Moto2): 4 retirements in 14 races (28.6%)
2017 (Moto2): 2 retirements in 18 races (11.1%)
2018 (Moto2): 0 retirements in 19 races (0%)
2019 (MotoGP): 1 retirement in 16 races (6.25%)
2020 (MotoGP): 3 retirements in 14 races (21.4%)
2021 (MotoGP): 5 retirements in 18 races (27.8%)
2022 (MotoGP): 2 retirements in 20 races (10%)
2023 (MotoGP): 6 retirements in 17 races (35.2%)*
* Ongoing season
