Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira (Aprilia) appears with new colors for the 2024 MotoGP World Championship season following the demise of the RNF team, replaced by North American Trackhouse, and with access to the bike from this year.
Financial problems of the Almada-born driver’s previous team forced promoter Dorna to revoke his RNF license. Trackhouse, which has experience in motorsport, namely the NASCAR championship, has taken over the entire structure, including drivers Miguel Oliveira and Spaniard Raul Fernandez, who are contracted directly with Aprilia.
This year, the Italian brand is offering the Portuguese rider an updated RS-GP model, while his teammate will race a 2023 version of the Aprilia.
On the sporting side, the appointment of Italian Davide Brivio as team principal raises the level of ambition and expectation, having won titles with Valentino Rossi at Yamaha and Joan Mir at Suzuki before taking on the Alpine project in Formula 1.
The 2023 season was one of the worst for Miguel Oliveira, who finished in 16th place after missing four of the 20 rounds due to three injuries caused by other riders, as well as seven withdrawals from competition.
The first happened at the first stage in Portimao and led to the fact that the Portuguese missed the race in Argentina.
A further fall and injury followed in Jerez de la Frontera (Spain), keeping him away from France. At the end of the season in Qatar, due to a new physical problem, the Portuguese did not participate in the last race in Valencia (Spain).
The Portuguese rider’s fourth place finish in the UK was his best result in a season in which he did not score a single queen win for the first time since 2019.
At 29, Miguel Oliveira is hoping for an injury-free season to unlock the potential of Aprilia, which has emerged as the second strongest brand in pre-season, just behind the dominant Ducati.
This will be rider Pragal’s sixth season in the queen category of the World Motorcycle Speed Championship, which starts this weekend in Qatar, the first of 21 scheduled rounds.
Next up is the Portuguese Grand Prix, which will take place from March 22 to 24. The season will end on November 17 in Valencia (Spain).
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.