As is well known, Miguel Oliveira will not continue at Red Bull KTM in MotoGP in 2022, with the team adding Jack Miller to Brad Binder. Returning to Tech3 was a scenario rejected by the Portuguese rider, and team manager Francesco Guidotti has spoken of what prevented continuity.
The official explained to GPOne.com that it was known that while possible market chances could not be missed, it was risky to lose #88: ‘The situation that arose after Suzuki’s announcement led to a general opening of the market that we could not ignore , but we also knew that losing the rider with whom we have won the most races could be a risky move.’
According to Guidotti, Oliveira was made an open offer, with no certainty of remaining in the factory team, but even though he knew it was nothing against him, the Portuguese decided to follow another path: ‘We made him an offer at a time when the market was very open, and we didn’t feel like blocking the factory team for another 2 years, as we already had Binder under contract. We made him an open offer, he did not have confirmation that he was 100% in the factory team, knowing that this could have upset him. Miguel understood that it was not a decision against him, but we had to evaluate the situation in general, and he preferred to give up.’