Oliveira back to Moto3 world championship in 2012 with Monlau Competición

Portugual’s upcoming racing hope Miguel Oliveira will be back in the MotoGP paddock next season, riding a Moto3 bike for the Monlau team.

Oliveira was forced to finish his 2011 Rookie season earlier than expected after having been dropped by the Andalucia team, allegedly over disagreements between the team and his representatives about contract obligations, but he was immediately recruited by former world champion Emilio Alzamora – the mentor of teenage sensation Marc Marquez – and his team Monlau Competición, so that together with the Racing Department of Honda Miguel would help to develop Honda’s Moto3 machine for the new category in the world championship 2012.

The tests that the Portuguese youngster has done with this team so far have been very productive, with a high amount of important data he provided and which contributes to the significant evolution of the new Honda 250cc 4T. In the days following the last Grand Prix in Valencia he is set for two more days of testing and he will also participate in the last two rounds of the Spanish Championship CEV Buckler, in Valencia and Jerez.

Miguel has already been out today at the test in Cheste and it appears the team sponsor will be the same as in Moto2 with Marc Marquez, the Spanish bank Catalunya Caixa.

Miguel Oliveira: “It’s an honour to be asked by a team as prestigious as Monlau Competición to develop a bike together with the Racing Department of Honda, which shows that big brands and teams continue to believe in my riding abilities. We did some tests to develop the chassis and now it’s a bike that’s easy to ride and allows very consistent lap times. In the next test we will test the first development of the engine. The aim is to gain a little power without losing the reliability. This power increase will certainly bring us closer to the current 125cc which we are not far away from.”

Source: Miguel Oliveira Official Website