Miguel Oliveira (Aprilia): Happy times are here / MotoGP

The MotoGP World Championship takes place next weekend at the Jerez de la Frontera pot in Andalusia. Trackhouse Aprilia stars Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez scored well in the US Grand Prix, finishing 10th and 11th. Fernandez was just 1.5 seconds behind Brad Binder (Red Bull-KTM) in the final race.

For father-of-two Oliveira (29), the “Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto” 2023 race with his RS-GP ended on lap one – but he was a strong fifth in the race. Fernandez scored the last World Championship point last year on his Andalusian debut on a MotoGP rocket. “Jerez is always a very special place for racing,” says Oliveira before a guest appearance on the clockwork track, which is almost as slow as the 300 hp MotoGP race.

Five-time MotoGP winner Oliveira hopes that the good performance of the Aprilia factory squad will also give Trackhouse Racing more strength: “Besides all the good memories I have about Jerez, I would like to add new ones this year and, above. All in all, good progress continued the one we made in Austin. Either way, I’m looking forward to a great race weekend.”

Raul Fernandez is also optimistic ahead of his first Spanish home race of the season: “I’m very happy to come to Jerez after a very good race in Austin. We don’t have any specific expectations for the race now, we just want to keep the same attitude and continue the work and improvements .”

The 23-year-old from Madrid, who took fifth place in the Moto2 World Championship in Jerez in 2021, also says: “It’s a great feeling to start the European tour this weekend. I want to stay on the same track in Jerez and try feel as good as I felt in Austin.”

For the young and most successful Trackhouse Aprilia RS-GP driver, the home game is of course also about a good performance in the Spanish MotoGP domestic championship. In front of cheering fans, Raul Fernandez will have to win against nine other regular drivers from Spain as well as a fast wildcard driver named Dani Pedrosa.