The Qatar GP meant goodbye to MotoGP for Miguel Oliveira in 2023 after confirmation of the shoulder blade injury that will force him off the track indefinitely. The Portuguese RNF rider admitted that the season had not gone smoothly, with him going through many complicated situations.
The Portuguese rider began today by analysing the start of saturday’s race, without forgetting what happened to dictate Aleix Espargaro’s race ending: ‘It was a race incident. Unfortunately, a crash to the Aprilia team mate, which really disappoints me. I got a really good start yesterday, so I just figured, I could keep gaining positions’.
Afterwards Oliveira assumed that he had braked a little too late, but that this had probably happened to the #41 as well, and he regretted that both ended up out of the race and worse, injured: ‘But in turn six, I brake a little too late, Aleix probably braked a little bit too much. Once I saw I was probably going to hit him, I just put up the bike straight to avoid him, but I couldn’t miss his rear wheel. Unfortunately, we crashed together, which is disappointing. It was a misjudgment, which ended up with both of us on the ground and both of us injured’.
This was followed by a few words about the injury that will force him out for a few months, although he still doesn’t know how deep it is: ‘I have a fractured scapula and don’t really know the extent of the injury yet. So once I get home I will get a better look into it and see what’s really ahead of me in terms of recovery. It looks like I will not need surgery, but it takes a bit of time. I will unfortunately miss the rest of the season, so this was my final lap’.
And ended with a rant: ‘I had a little bit of everything this season, it was not what I was expecting, but I think this could also build up some more character for next season. I’m glad I lived through everything this season, so hopefully next year is going to be better’.