Austrian factory KTM has had something of a love affair with Portuguese MotoGP rider Miguel Oliveira that dates back all the way to 2015, with the team first signing him up long before its even had a MotoGP team and then promoting him through the ranks to factory rider status.
In his time as KTM rider in MotoGP, Oliveira has accrued four wins – double what the whole rest of the KTM MotoGP contingent have combined for since the programme’s racing debut in late 2016.
But, with the news that Oliveira will be replaced for 2023 by Jack Miller, the question now is: how did the love affair turn so bitter so quickly?
Oliveira first raced in official Red Bull KTM colours back in his Moto3 days, joining Aki Ajo’s team after two tough seasons on Mahindra machinery and immediately delivering for the team with six wins and second in the championship to Danny Kent.
Splitting for 2016 due to a promotion to Moto2, where KTM didn’t yet have a team, he was nonetheless the first name on its shopping list when it did enter the class the year afterwards.
And despite a tough-to-ride bike that was eventually aborted in favour of running Kalex machinery under the KTM name, Oliveira nonetheless had a good stint with the team, winning a further six races and finishing third and then second in the middleweight class in 2017 (behind Franco Morbidelli and Tom Luthi) and 2018 (behind Pecco Bagnaia) respectively.
That was enough to launch him into a KTM satellite spot in MotoGP for 2019 – again on a difficult machine that took a lot of perseverance even as factory riders Pol Espargaro and Johann Zarco fought their own uphill battles with the RC16 (the former more successfully than the latter).
However, it was also in Oliveira’s first year at KTM that the first chink in his relationship with the brand appeared, when Zarco dramatically split from the team midway through his contract.
The chance for a factory promotion was first offered to Oliveira, who turned it down in order to continue learning his trade in the Tech3 squad.
In theory it was a smart move, especially as rumours continued to suggest at the time that KTM were chasing Oliveira’s eventual replacement Miller even back then for the gig – but it’s no secret that the Portuguese racer’s nose was left somewhat out of joint when the chance to be Espargaro’s team-mate went not to an established MotoGP racer ala tester Mika Kallio (who Oliveira would’ve presumably expected to replace down the line) but rather to his former team-mate and rival in Moto2, Brad Binder.
Even worse, Binder was the first to achieve the dream for KTM, taking its first win in only his third-ever race at Brno in his rookie season. Oliveira went on to score two wins of his own later in the year, including one borne out of an exceptional last-corner overtake on Miller and Espargaro at the Red Bull Ring – but the chance for both him and Espargaro to take the brand’s first win was usurped.
Promoted to factory colours, finally, in 2021, the next perceived slight happened only a few months into the season – this time, when Binder was offered an unusual three-year contract extension to his original one-year deal, a move that means he’s sitting comfortably until the end of 2024 while his rivals undergo contract chaos.
It’s still not clear whether a similar deal was extended Oliveira’s way and refused, or whether the Austrian brand declined to give him a similar option – but either way, it opened the floodgates, starting a raft of speculation linking him to various other teams that has continued right up until the present day as he continues to work out his future.
There are also plenty of rumours about what the status of his current deal has been, too – but one thing seems clear. Despite whatever might have happened in the interim, the factory was in fact keen to keep its former star protege for 2023, just not necessarily in a primetime seat.
An offer to return to Tech3, one that included a significant salary bump, was subsequently rejected by Oliveira’s manager, his father Paulo.
With Oliveira Sr and KTM boss of motorsport Pit Beirer both notoriously stubborn and outspoken characters, it’s not totally unreasonable to believe that there’s every chance that the two parties have bumped heads during the contract process – and that as a result, things haven’t been smooth sailing.
Whatever the cause, the consequence is clear: Oliveira is now all but out of KTM, destined instead for (most likely) a Gresini Ducati next year.
Well well well, the things you see in the paddock. Miguel Oliveira, his father/manager Paulo, and Paolo Ciabatti walking into the Gresini Racing garage…. 📝 pic.twitter.com/afbJQl6W4O
— Simon Patterson (@denkmit) June 4, 2022
Whether it brings more success remains to be seen, but a happy rider is a fast rider, and if things been as much at loggerheads as it seems within the camp, then perhaps it’s the best move for everyone.
