Miguel Oliveira: “We cannot rush coming back”

Miguel Oliveira returned to the MotoGP paddock in Qatar on Friday with his left arm in a sling as he continues recovering from a complicated shoulder injury sustained in Argentina.

The Pramac Yamaha rider was injured when he was taken down by rookie Fermín Aldeguer during the Sprint on March 15th. 

Initially suspected to be a fractured collarbone, further examination revealed Oliveira had suffered a more severe ‘luxation of the sternum and clavicle’.

Describing the early stages of his recovery, Oliveira told MotoGP.com: “I had the shoulder completely immobilised for the first three weeks. 

"Those were the more critical ones to get the clavicle back in place, try to create a little bit of a scar tissue around it and try to get a little bit of stability.

“Now I'm able to start to move a little bit more freely the arm and the shoulder, and I can start to see things going a little bit better and better each day. 

"And of course that's really motivating when you're trying to come back as soon as possible.”

“We cannot rush coming back”

Oliveira is being replaced for the second event in a row by Yamaha test rider Augusto Fernandez.

The next potential date for a return to MotoGP action is the Spanish Grand Prix at the end of this month.

“We'll see, it's the doctor's decision,” Oliveira said. “After we get another MRI next week we'll assess the situation of the tendon. 

"Then if we can start to go higher and higher with the movements, we can start to add maybe a little bit of weight that speeds up the recovery quite well.

“How much, we're not sure. And we need to have a stable collarbone to compete, to make sure it doesn't come out with the effort. 

"So we cannot rush coming back. I need to be 100% fit to ride the MotoGP.”

Oliveira, injured by the actions of others more than any other rider on the premier-class grid, said he tries not to dwell on what happened.

“You just try to forget,” he said. “Every injury I'm just looking forward, to what I can do to heal myself as quickly as possible.

“Also, to have an optimistic and a positive approach to the comeback. Because if you start thinking about the luck you have, you will lose control a little bit of what you can do.

“So whenever the time is to come back. I'll make sure I'll be ready.”