Miguel Oliveira scored points for the first time in a Sprint race this MotoGP season. In a race full of crashes in Jerez, the Trackhouse Racing man managed to recover from 20th to ninth place.
Poor start by the Almada rider, who dropped from 14th to 20th during the first lap. He managed to climb to 17th, benefiting from two crashes ahead.
On the next lap, he gained another position, placing himself in 16th, before moving up to 15th when Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) crashed on the third lap. Fourth lap, another crash, and Oliveira moved up to 14th… only to lose it a lap later.
It was in this 15th position that the Portuguese rider stabilized, although he was not far from the riders immediately ahead of him: Joan Mir (Repsol Honda) and Raúl Fernández (Trackhouse Racing/Aprilia)… before four almost consecutive crashes four laps from the end left him in 11th.
The crashes continued and on lap 10 it was Maverick Viñales (Aprilia) who went down. Thus, Oliveira was already in the top ten, and just one position away from scoring points. He reached that on the 11th lap, gaining positions over Mir and Marc Márquez (Gresini/Ducati) to finish eighth. However, he was quickly overtaken by Márquez, dropping to ninth. The Spanish rider had to give up a position due to a penalty, which put Oliveira back in eighth.
Fue una situación que duró poco, ya que en la última vuelta el #88 perdió dos posiciones de golpe cayendo al décimo lugar. Estaba nuevamente fuera de los puntos, pero una caída de Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) algunas posiciones delante de él lo promovió al noveno lugar final. De esta manera, es un punto para Oliveira, que terminó teniendo la suerte de su lado, pero también la habilidad de mantenerse sin incidentes en una carrera en la que nueve pilotos no llegaron al final.
