Oliveira 10th in #GermanGP, 15th for Fernandez

The CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team experienced a happy end in sunny Saxony today. In 30 demanding laps Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez managed to score points for the seventh round of the 2023 MotoGP World Championship at the Sachsenring after some tricky rounds before and complicated practice days in Germany as well.

Oliveira, who qualified in P16, started from 15th on the grid due to the absence of Marc Marquez. Although he had a heavy impact again on his left shoulder this Friday, the Portuguese did a strong race. He gained two positions with a decent start and a strong first lap and started to build up a rhythm. Despite enduring a lot of pain, Oliveira kept on moving forward, he climbed up to P12 on lap 18 and 11th straight after. With four laps to go, he made another pass for a top 10 and brought it home with a brave effort.

On the other hand, Fernandez was also upgraded on the grid from P19 to P18. He kept his position in the initial stages of the race. He climbed up a spot on lap six and progressed to P16 two laps later. Fighting for the final point, he tried his all and on the last lap eventually managed to escape to 15th position, which earns him a well-deserved World Championship point.

Now the CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team packs up and moves over to Assen in the Netherlands for the third round of this triple header, the final Grand Prix before the summer break.

MIGUEL OLIVEIRA

It is a pleasing result, especially because we could be competitive and challenging every lap for the best we can. I couldn’t really push myself to the maximum, because once I lose strength in the left shoulder, it felt like it can pop out again. So, I really had to protect myself and ride in a way that I’m not really comfortable with. Anyway, it’s a good effort from me and the team and we look forward to go to Assen and see how the Aprilia performs there.

RAUL FERNANDEZ

Our weekend was super difficult after the crash. I think I crashed too fast and lost some confidence. But today, I believe we have improved a lot on the pace. I’d like to compare with another rider with the same bike as me, so today I compared with Miguel as he was the fastest rider for Aprilia and I saw that our pace was very similar. I’m really happy with our job, Aprilia is working very hard to close the gap to the top and I believe a lot on that. So now we will go to Assen, Aprilia did a fantastic job there last year especially with Aleix (Espargaro), he had a super fast pace there. Our goal is to see our full potential and I have a lot of confidence that we will improve.