Poncharal: Oliveira “loves” KTM factory parts

During FP3 at the GoPro British Grand Prix, Red Bull KTM Tech 3 Team Manager Herve Poncharal spoke to motogp.com pitlane reporter Simon Crafar about Miguel Oliveira’s Austrian GP top 10.

“We have to say that we’re more than happy. We’re impressed. Sometimes, we have new parts coming and the riders say it’s better, but we don’t see any improvement in terms of laptime,” said the Frenchman at Silverstone, reflecting on Oliveira’s brilliant P8 finish at the Red Bull Ring.

“Since we’ve received some evolutions that factory were already used – it was Monday after CzechGP – Miguel loves it and showed in track that is a real bonus. The AustrianGP was the best race so far and clearly I think the new parts are helping a lot, so we’re really happy. Yesterday, for day 1, it was a real achievement. We’re happy. We’re not fighting to be the best KTM, we all fighting together inside KTM group to have a competitive bike and I think the three riders who have the new specs (Pol, Johann and Miguel) showed that the bike is closing the gap to the front guys.”

And Poncharal also confirmed the Portuguese star has factory spec parts fitted to both of his RC-16s, not just the one: “Yes, exactly. We had only one bike in Czech Republic after the race, the same in Austria. But here we have both bikes. It’s much easier to work now.”

Can Oliveira continue to impress? His weekend has started well at Silverstone, so another top 10 fight could very much be on the cards.