Miguel Oliveira (motorcycle racer)

Miguel Ângelo Falcão de Oliveira (born January 4, 1995) is a Portuguese motorcycle racer, who currently in the Moto3 World Championship. He has gained extensive experience in Moto3, having competed for the Estrella Galicia 0,0 team in 2012, and the Mahindra Racing team in 2013 and 2014. In September 2014 he signed with the Red Bull KTM Ajo team.

Oliveira's father, a former motorcycle racer, always supported his son's love of racing and gave him his first quad-bike when he was four years old. He started racing in the national championship at nine years old, in the Portuguese MiniGP Championship in 2004, winning the Young Promise of the Year award in Portugal. His first successes came in 2005 when he won the Portuguese MiniGP championship and Metrakit World Festival in Spain. In 2006 he repeated his earlier success and in 2007 he won the Mediterranean PreGP 125 Trophy. In 2009 he was third in the Spanish championship, and in 2010 battled Maverick Viñales for the title, eventually finishing runner-up by just two points and progressed to become the first full-time Portuguese rider to reach the world championship.

Career

Oliveira was born in Almada.

125cc World Championship

2011

2011 was his first season in Motorcycling Grand Prix, in the 125cc Championship with Andalucía-Cajasol team. The bike was an Aprilia.^[1] His best result was a 7th place at his home race at Estoril, having being 10th on his debut in Qatar. He achieved six top ten finishes in his first season, but he did not compete in the final races after the team failed to secure financial support to end the season.

Moto3 World Championship

2012

He moved to Moto3 machinery with Emilio Alzamora's Estrella Galicia 0,0 team for 2012, having helped to develop the new four-stroke Suter-Honda bike in the last rounds of the CEV 2011 season; winning two races in the process. In 2012 he led some races before crashing out and got his first podium, a third place, in Catalunya. He improved on that result with a second place in Australia, and ended the season in eighth place in the championship standings. As the team already had a contract with Álex Márquez to partner Álex Rins in 2013, Oliveira left the team. Despite offers from the Ajo Motorsport and Avintia Racing teams, Oliveira joined Mahindra Racing for 2013.^[2]

2013

He was once again developing a new bike with Suter, with a Mahindra-badged engine – based on 2012's Honda unit – and he got the first podium for the Indian team in Sepang, with a third place finish. He also achieved a pole position, eight top-five finishes and three fastest laps with the new bike that was underpowered compared to the KTM machinery.

2014

For 2014 he was joined by Arthur Sissis – who was later replaced by Andrea Migno due to poor results – and he obtained a podium in Assen, a third place. He finished the season as the best Mahindra rider in the championship, in tenth place. He will join the factory KTM Ajo team for 2015.

Career highlights

2004 – 4th place in Troféu Mini GP (Portuguese championship)
2005 – 1st place in Metrakit World Festival (World champion)
2005 – 1st place in Troféu Mini GP (Portuguese championship)
2005 – 2nd place in Madrid Mini GP (Spanish championship)
2006 – 1st place in RACE Madrid (Spanish Trophy)
2006 – 1st place in Troféu Mini GP XL 70cc (Portuguese championship)
2007 – 1st place in Troféu Open Racc Pre-125 (Spanish championship)
2007 – 3rd place in Metrakit World Festival (World championship)
2008 – 3rd place in Troféu Open Racc Pre-125 (Spanish championship)
2008 – 8th place in Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup at Estoril
2008 – 1st place in Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup at Donington and Assen
2008 – 1st place in 250cc 4T at Jerez
2009 – 3rd place in CEV final standings (Spanish championship)
2009 – 5th place European 125GP
2010 – 2nd place (runner-up) in the European 125GP championship
2010 - 2nd place (runner-up) in CEV (Spanish championship)
2011 – 14th in 125cc World Championship
2011 - 1st place in CEV (Spanish Championship) at Valencia and Jerez
2012 – 8th in Moto3 World Championship (2 podiums)
2013 – 6th in Moto3 World Championship (1 podium)
2014 - 10th in Moto3 World Championship (1 podium)

Career statistics

By season

Season	Class	Motorcycle	Race	Podium	Pole	FLap	Pts	Plcd
2011	125cc	Aprilia	11	0	0	0	44	14th
2012	Moto3	Suter Honda	17	2	0	0	114	8th
2013	Moto3	Mahindra	17	1	1	3	150	6th
2014	Moto3	Mahindra	18	1	0	0	110	10th
2015	Moto3	KTM	3	0	1	2	13*	12th*
Total			66	4	2	5	431

* Season in progress.

By class

Class	Seasons	1st GP	1st Pod	1st Win	Race	Win	Podiums	Pole	FLap	Pts	WChmp
125 cc	2011	2011 Qatar			11	0	0	0	0	44	0
Moto3	2012–2015	2012 Qatar	2012 Catalunya		55	0	4	2	5	387	0

Races by year

(key)

Yr	Class	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Pos	Pts
2011	125cc	Aprilia	QAT 10	SPA Ret	POR 7	FRA 9	CAT Ret	GBR	NED	ITA 8	GER Ret	CZE 23	IND 8	RSM 10	ARA Ret	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL		14th	44
2012	Moto3	Suter Honda	QAT 5	SPA Ret	POR Ret	FRA Ret	CAT 3	GBR 10	NED 10	GER 19	ITA Ret	IND 4	CZE 9	RSM 9	ARA 8	JPN 7	MAL 5	AUS 2	VAL Ret		8th	114
2013	Moto3	Mahindra	QAT 7	AME 5	SPA 16	FRA Ret	ITA 4	CAT 6	NED 4	GER 4	IND 8	CZE 9	GBR 5	RSM 7	ARA 5	MAL 3	AUS 26	JPN 4	VAL 10		6th	150
2014	Moto3	Mahindra	QAT 4	AME 15	ARG Ret	SPA 14	FRA 12	ITA 4	CAT 12	NED 3	GER Ret	IND 7	CZE 7	GBR 4	RSM 22	ARA 7	JPN Ret	AUS 7	MAL Ret	VAL 8	10th	110
2015	Moto3	KTM	QAT 16	AME Ret	ARG 4	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	IND	CZE	GBR	RSM	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL	12th*	13*

* Season in progress.

References

↑ Ribeiro, Paulo (10 November 2010). "Miguel Oliveira vai correr no Mundial de 125 cc" [Miguel Oliveira will run in the 125 cc World Championship]. A Bola (in Portuguese) (Sociedade Vicra Desportiva). Archived from the original on 12 November 2010. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
↑ "Mahindra Racing riders for 2013, Efrén Vázquez & Miguel Oliveira, say Namaste India!". MotoGP.com (Dorna Sports). 29 January 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2013.