The Sprint race of the Portuguese MotoGP Grand Prix came to an end, with Miguel Oliveira finishing in 12th place. He gained three positions compared to the starting grid, but couldn’t go much further. He was the worst of the four Aprilias: Maverick Viñales was the winner, Aleix Espargaró finished eighth, and Oliveira’s teammate, Raúl Fernández, finished tenth.
The start of the race didn’t pose major problems for the rider from Almada. However, he lost two places and ended the first lap in 16th, even further from being able to score points. By the end of the second lap, he moved up to 15th, before reaching 14th thanks to Álex Rins’ (Monster Energy Yamaha) crash.
Despite having a pace not too far off from the riders ahead of him, Oliveira couldn’t overtake. On the fourth lap, he climbed up the standings again due to two crashes: Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46/Ducati) and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM).
In the second half of the race, “Falcão” gradually lost contact with the pursuing rider, Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46/Ducati). Behind him, Álex Márquez (Gresini/Ducati) was also far away to even attempt an attack. Therefore, Oliveira settled for 12th place, three positions away from the points-scoring positions.
Hard tire in front and soft tire in the rear
Turn 1: 15th -> 16th
Turn 2: 16th -> 15th
Turn 3: 15th -> 14th
Turn 4: 14th -> 12th
Turn 5: 12th
Turn 6: 12th
Turn 7: 12th
Turn 8: 12th
Turn 9: 12th
Turn 10: 12th
Turn 11: 12th
Turn 12: 12th (end of race)
