Miguel Oliveira today concluded the first day of the last MotoGP pre-season test in Qatar, in 21st place, far behind the rest of the Aprilia races, showing the difficulties in adapting to the new bike that he already showed at Sepang.

The Portuguese didn't even start the day poorly, spending most of the first half of the session in the top ten, but he remained at a stage where track conditions were not ideal and several drivers were yet to show their best version. As track conditions began to improve, some riders began to show good pace, including Aleix Espargaro, Maverick Viñales and Raul Fernandez, the remaining Aprilia riders who rose to the top of the table.

But Oliveira did not continue that climb, eventually saying on social media that the first day “did not go as planned.” Miguel Oliveira finished 21st (Espargaro was third, Viñales sixth and Fernández twelfth), 1.903 seconds behind Francesco Bagnaia, who finished the race with the best time after completing 57 laps. The Portuguese has an RS-GP24 at his disposal for this season, remembering that he had an RS-GP22 the previous season, and perhaps expectedly the adaptation to such a different bike will be slower.

Tomorrow will be the last day of testing in Qatar, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., making this the last opportunity for drivers to ride before the start of the season, specifically in the city of Lusail.