Miguel Oliveira showed signs of struggle on his return to the track after two months away – he finished the Practice for the MotoGP French GP in 21st place.
The Portuguese rider for Prima Pramac Yamaha tired quickly, but there was some relief too: ‘I was relieved, because you always doubt if you still know how to ride the bike after such a long time. It’s there, I just missed a lot of technique, getting tired super quickly because I’m making a lot of effort to do what I’m doing. I should be doing like half of the effort to be riding at this lap time. It is what it is; it’s kind of a weekend zero for me, and we’ll restart just getting this experience and feeling with the bike. And I’m sure that the performance will follow’.
Asked whether he needed to make changes to the bike to feel comfortable, Oliveira replied: ‘Not much. In terms of ergonomics, the bike felt like my bike, just some adjustments on the gear lever. But it was the bike, let’s say. The adjustments were just a bit on the spring rates – front and rear. And that was it’.
After so much time away, the #88 is aware that the task in Le Mans will be a tough one: ‘I will struggle, and I know I will struggle. So, it’s just about managing what I can in terms of lap time to be able to finish the race. But it will not be easy’.
And, in this context, Oliveira doesn’t expect to be in a position to engage in many battles: ‘I don’t think so. There’s a good gap ahead of me – I don’t know how much. We’ll see tomorrow in qualifying what I’m able to do’.
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