WATCH: Miguel Olivera races KTM’s MotoGP bike through a tunnel!
The 2018 Moto2 runner-up helped open the Gleinalm tunnel aboard an RC16 GP bike
KTM AND RED BULL, who sponsor the Austrian teams MotoGP exploits, teamed up to open the Gleinalm Tunnel in Styria, which has reopened after renovation works.
The five-mile stretch is the most direct route to the Red Bull Ring and KTM and Red Bull opened the stretch of road in style by riding one of the factory’s 2016 MotoGP contenders from one end to the other.
The tunnel lies on the A9 Autobahn and links the city of Graz to the circuit which is hosting the Grand Prix of Austria in August this year.
Olivera said: “Riding in the tunnel was such a different experience, the loud engine sound, it’s incredible. The bike weighs around 160kg, we have around 270hp it’s quite a unique machine.”
The run was made on what look like Michelin Power RS road tyres, the low temperature at this time of year and in that part of the world – between 1° and 2° would not have been enough to get any heat into a normal racing slick tyre. He’s also riding in a fairly straight tunnel so a couple of grand on race tyres might seem like overkill. The bike also ran the steel disc we normally see in the rain, again this is probably down the small amount of use they would have got riding through the tunnel.
Olivera had a stellar 2018 riding in Moto2 for KTM taking six wins, 21 podiums and finishing up on 574 points, finishing just nine points behind the champion, Francesco Bagnia. He steps up to the MotoGP class for 2019 and races under the new Tech3 KTM banner under Herve Poncharal.
Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
