Miguel Oliveira managed to secure a top ten finish in the Portuguese MotoGP Grand Prix. After a difficult start to the season and a weekend that was not easy in Portimão, the Trackhouse Racing rider crossed the finish line in ninth place on Sunday, after some twists and turns in the final stages of the race.
Great start for the “Falcon”, who flew from 15th to 11th on the first lap, getting involved in the battle for the top ten from the start. Ahead of him was Álex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha), with a pace not much different in the early stages of the race.
Despite the closeness between the riders in that part of the pack, Oliveira remained in 11th place until overtaking Rins on lap 6. The Spaniard would also lose position to Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46/Ducati) – who continued to be Oliveira’s main pursuer.
The next target for #88 would be Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha), but at the same time, one could not neglect a fast Bezzecchi behind. Midway through the race, he remained in tenth position, running solidly. Entering the last ten laps, the situation remained similar and Oliveira showed no signs of performance decline. In fact, on the 18th lap, he set his best time up to that point and, one lap later, finally overtook Quartararo to reach ninth. Bezzecchi made the same move shortly after, to continue chasing the Portuguese. He managed to overtake on the 20th lap, where Oliveira also lost position to Quartararo before being passed by Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia). After being overtaken, Oliveira lost contact with the competitors and seemed destined for 12th place. However, on the 23rd lap Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) and Marc Márquez (Gresini/Ducati) crashed in the fight for sixth place and that promoted Oliveira back to tenth. Until the end, the rider from Almada gained one more position and finished ninth, with Maverick Viñales’ (Aprilia) problems when he was in third on lap 24.Hard tire in front and medium tire in the back
Lap 1: 15th -> 11th
Lap 2: 11th
Lap 3: 11th
Lap 4: 11th
Lap 5: 11th
Lap 6: 11th
Lap 7: 11th -> 10th
Lap 8: 10th
Lap 9: 10th
Lap 10: 10th
Lap 11: 10th
Lap 12: 10th
Lap 13: 10th
Lap 14: 10th
Lap 15: 10th
Lap 16: 10th
Lap 17: 10th
Lap 18: 10th
Lap 19: 10th -> 9th
Lap 20: 9th -> 11th
Lap 21: 11th -> 12th
Lap 22: 12th
Lap 23: 12th -> 10th
Lap 24: 10th -> 9th
Lap 25: 9th (end of race)
