Oliveira, RNF miss podium by 0.070s: “It's racing, it's tough”

The RNF rider charged from 16th on the grid and was holding third place as the penultimate lap began.

But he couldn’t hold off former factory KTM team-mate Brad Binder, who snatched what would have been RNF’s first RS-GP podium away.

The Portuguese was also just 0.750s from factory Aprilia race winner Aleix Espargaro.

“Coming from 16th it was definitely a good result, finishing that close to the podium and also to the win,” Oliveira said. “For sure, the rain helped me to catch a little bit of time. Because I just took more risks and I was lucky not to crash.

“It was a shame that I couldn't hold Brad behind but it's racing, it's tough and I tried my best until the last corner. I was just not close enough to try an overtake.”

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Asked if he had been able to use the riders ahead to gauge his speed when rain spots began to fall, Oliveira smiled:

“That's what my father said! ‘It was easy because you saw the guys ahead and if they crash or have any moments you can slow down’. It's like, yeah, it's not quite the same...

“But I know what you mean. You have the target. And if they are a little bit too careful, you say ‘OK, go a bit faster and see what happens’.”

The result marked Oliveira’s best MotoGP finish since his fifth and final KTM victory at last year’s wet Thai round.

The opening part of this season at RNF was then dogged by injuries after being caught up in accidents by Marc Marquez and Fabio Quartararo.

“It’s definitely a good boost,” Oliveira said of the result. “Mentally, it's nice. Also to be fully fit again is good. I did struggle a bit with the forearm this whole weekend and in the race the last couple of laps were a bit hard for me.

"But I think it's just a matter of getting back to the pace again and just get the maximum I can from myself and the bike. It was a strong weekend for all the Aprilias in general, and I’m happy to be there in the top five.

“I think hopefully the season can start coming our way now,” he added. “We have the 2022 spec bike and we know that's the bike we have to work with. I think we're just getting out the most ‘juice’ we can from the package.

“I think it's possible that a couple of [updates] might come. I don't expect the things that will come will actually change a lot my bike because anyway the bikes are quite different [from 2022 to 2023], although not that different in terms of performance.

“So let's see what updates I can have and if they bring really something significant.”

Team-mate Raul Fernandez made it four Aprilias in the top ten, in tenth.

"What an amazing race and a remarkable recovery from both riders. The team needed that, we needed that, and we were so close to the podium,” said RNF boss Razlan Razali.

“But, fourth is really good considering what we have been through, first independent team I think is really amazing. And for both riders to be in the top ten is fantastic.

“We hope that this is the beginning of our turnaround."