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.
A bad 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 to move up to 16th, before advancing to 15th when Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) crashed on the third lap. On the fourth lap, another crash, and Oliveira moved up to 14th place… 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: 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 the 10th lap, Maverick Viñales (Aprilia) went down. Thus, Oliveira was already in the top ten, just one position away from scoring points. He reached that position on the 11th lap, overtaking Mir and Marc Márquez (Gresini/Ducati) to finish in eighth. However, he was quickly overtaken by Márquez again, dropping to ninth. The Spaniard had to give up a position due to a penalty, which put Oliveira back in eighth.
It was a situation that lasted a short time, as on the last lap #88 lost two positions in a row, dropping to tenth. He was once again out of the points, but a fall by Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) a few positions ahead promoted him to ninth place in the end. Thus, it is a point for Oliveira, who ended up having luck on his side, but also the skill to hold on without incidents in a race where nine riders did not finish.
