The Sprint race puts MotoGP riders in the fight for points, but also allows them to gather data and information that is useful to fine-tune details for the main race, which is the most important one.
At the Italian GP, Miguel Oliveira practically did not participate in the Sprint race: right at the beginning of the second lap, he had an accident with Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) that forced him to retire.
For that reason, unlike some competitors, the Portuguese rider did not have much data from real race conditions to rely on before the race this Sunday at Mugello.
Would it have made a difference to complete the Sprint race in full? Oliveira (Trackhouse Racing/Aprilia) replied: ‘It is certain that it would have been useful to do the Sprint. Surely today we could have made different changes, and that’s it, really‘.
