After a slower start, Miguel Oliveira managed to gain momentum throughout the weekend of the French MotoGP. And despite starting from 12th, he managed to reach the top ten during Sunday’s main race at Le Mans.
The Trackhouse rider was solidly among the top ten. However, on the 16th lap, he had to retire due to an exhaust problem that had been manifesting itself early on in his Aprilia RS-GP.
The outcome means it was the first round in 2024 without scoring points and the first retirement. Oliveira believes that if he had been able to stay until the end, a top seven finish would have been possible:
– Today probably seventh. I don’t know who crashed in front, but early on was Pedro Acosta crashing. Aleix [Espargaró] went wide but I didn’t quite got to overtake him. But then Fabio [Quartararo] was in front and crashed, so I could have been P6 or P7. I would take happily those points for sure.
