OLIVEIRA SAYS HE SEES NO YOUNGSTER CAPABLE OF CHALLENGING MARQUEZ FOR THE TITLE

Miguel Oliveira believes the current MotoGP landscape still lacks a clear successor capable of challenging Marc Marquez for the top. Speaking with SPEEDWEEK.com, the Portuguese rider—who competed in Grand Prix racing from 2011 to 2025 and won 17 races across all classes (including five in MotoGP)—pointed to Marquez as the benchmark even as the Spaniard continues to deal with physical issues.

Oliveira praised Marquez’s ability and competitiveness, saying: “Fahrerisch ist er der Größte aller Zeiten” (“In terms of riding, he’s the greatest of all time”). He also highlighted that Marquez’s 2026 performances remain impressive despite his problems, and identified the riders currently most capable of pushing him: Aprilia’s Jorge Martin, Marco Bezzecchi, Ai Ogura and Raul Fernandez, along with VR46 Ducati’s Fabio Di Giannantonio.

When it comes to the next wave of talent, however, Oliveira sees no immediate threat to Marquez’s title fight. “Es kommt zwar eine neue Generation, aber ich sehe momentan keinen, der Marc richtig herausfordern kann,” he said, adding that while a new generation is arriving, he does not yet see anyone who can truly challenge Marquez for the championship.

Among the MotoGP newcomers and upcoming rookies—such as Diogo Moreira, David Alonso and Daniel Holgado—Oliveira does not expect a major disruption. Instead, he singled out one rider from the recent crop he believes stands out. “Acosta is for me the strongest. He is the only one where you can see that he is different,” Oliveira said. He added that, in his view, the rest are more similar to each other: “With the others it’s the same for everyone. Also Diogo is a great rider, but he is not Acosta.” At the same time, Oliveira stressed that this does not mean the others lack talent: “But to make it clear: every one of those guys is very talented.”

Oliveira also looked beyond MotoGP’s immediate future, pointing to Moto3 as a place where the next star could emerge—though he warned against overestimating how quickly young riders adapt. He named Maximo Quiles, currently leading the Moto3 standings, as the strongest candidate from that group: “He is the only young rider from Moto3.” Yet he cautioned that judging young prospects is difficult and that it is “unfair” to place heavy expectations and pressure on them.

To illustrate his point, Oliveira referenced several riders’ transitions between classes. He said that Rueda dominated Moto3 before moving to Moto2, where he struggled; Collin Veijer was fast in Moto3 but did not dominate, then took time to become strong in Moto2; and Izan Guevara was “fantastic” in Moto3 but needed “two or three years” in Moto2 before finding his pace. “There is no black or white,” Oliveira concluded, emphasizing that development often takes time rather than following a straight line.