Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Miguel Oliveira will bring a memorable MotoGP™ run to an end with the conclusion of the 2022 MotoGP season.
The Portuguese will leave the Austrian set-up and the KTM racing structure he has been a part of since 2017 in the Moto2™ class. The 27-year-old has won Grands Prix at every single level with KTM and after initially shining as a racer of promise in the 2008 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup (where he won two rounds in the UK and the Netherlands). His initial GP success, at the 2015 Moto3™ Italian Grand Prix at Mugello, was the first for a Portuguese in the world championship and he was runner-up at the end of that year for the Red Bull KTM Ajo team.
More wins and two top-three championship finishes in three years of Moto2 followed with the Red Bull KTM Ajo squad before Oliveira entered MotoGP in 2019 with Tech3 Racing. Miguel was the first athlete to have scaled each step of the Red Bull Rookies/Moto3/Moto2 and MotoGP KTM GP Academy ladder.
Oliveira completed an educational term in the premier class but used the progressive potential of the KTM RC16 to log two fantastic victories in 2020 – in Austria and at his first ever home Grand Prix appearance at the Algarve International Circuit.
After that campaign he joined the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing squad and was again successful: winning the 2021 Catalan round and appearing on the podium in Italy and Germany. Oliveira made it four wins in three seasons by claiming the inaugural MotoGP event at Mandalika in Indonesia this year. He currently sits 10th in the riders’ standings and has scored points in 11 of the 13 rounds to-date approaching the Gran Premio Gryfyn di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini.
Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “We’ve been lucky to have a rider of Miguel’s intelligence, talent and professionalism in the factory team. When we’ve been able to create the right package for him then he has shown his class and brought some important input into the development of the KTM RC16. It’s something we’ll always appreciate. Obrigado Miguel!”
Pit Beirer, KTM Motorsports Director: “A big thanks to Miguel for everything he’s brought to our MotoGP programme and for all the strong values that he represents. He came through our KTM system but he also helped make each step valid and competitive by being on the podium 36 times and taking 16 wins for us, four of those in MotoGP. The victory in Austria in 2020 was simply amazing and only bettered by the dominance and emotion in Portugal later in the season. He really showed young riders the ‘orange way’ through the MotoGP pyramid. He’s a total Pro, a family man and he’ll be missed in our section of the paddock for sure. We wish him all the best for his future in the MotoGP class.”