Miguel Oliveira concluded a chapter in the 2024 MotoGP season. After two years, he departs from Aprilia’s satellite team without achieving the expected results and facing significant difficulties in finding a competitive footing with Trackhouse.
Scoring wasn’t the issue…
This year, the Portuguese rider posted a noteworthy record in MotoGP: out of the rounds he participated in, he missed out on points in only two and retired from just three main races (France, Great Britain, and Aragon).
The season started unimpressively with a 15th-place finish in Qatar, but in the following races, Oliveira managed to enter the fight for the top ten (narrowly missing out in Austin and failing to achieve it in France due to his retirement).
Often hindered by subpar qualifying performances, recovering in the races proved challenging – especially in the Sprints, where he scored points on just three occasions. One of these was at the German GP, where he finished second.
But consistency and performance were lacking. Oliveira consistently faced various difficulties extracting the full potential of the 2024 RS-GP – ranging from mechanical issues, bike setup, grip, and tire performance.
A wrist injury sustained in Indonesia prevented the #88 from continuing what seemed like a return to form after an 11th-place finish in San Marino and a tenth at the Emilia Romagna GP. After missing five Grands Prix, he returned at the Solidarity GP of Barcelona, finishing 12th despite being significantly limited physically.
The result secured him 15th place in the standings, finishing just ahead of teammate Raúl Fernández by 12 points. This was far from meeting his ambitions of competing closer to the front. It was also his second-worst season ever in the premier class, although he finished one place higher than last year.
Strength
Although he may not have consistently maximized the RS-GP’s potential, Miguel Oliveira didn’t miss his big opportunity to shine. At the German GP, he was the fastest in free practice, third in Practice, second in qualifying, and second in the Sprint race. While he couldn’t maintain podium momentum in the main race, he achieved his best result of the year with a sixth-place finish.
Weakness
Qualifying performance continues to have a negative impact on Oliveira’s results. He rarely managed to reach Q2, either directly or via Q1, and this often limited the true potential of his performances.
Best moment
The German GP was the highlight of the season for Oliveira. As mentioned earlier, he was consistently in the fight for the top positions from free practice onwards. In the race, he couldn’t match the Ducatis but still secured his best result of the year.
Worst moment
The Indonesian GP ended early for Oliveira, who fractured his wrist following a crash in the first free practice session. It was an incident for which he bore no responsibility, later revealing to Estrella Galicia 0,0 that it was caused by a technical issue with the bike.