Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira (KTM) believes he can have “a good race” in the MotoGP Thai Grand Prix, the 17th race of the season, for which he qualified 11th.
The Portuguese driver got a “bittersweet” taste after a yellow flag in the latter part of free practice three ruined the opportunity to go straight to Q2, ‘forcing’ him to go through Q1 first.
“I knew we could make it to Q2, but it took a lot of effort. But I feel like we took a step forward with the bike this afternoon,” explained Miguel Oliveira, who was second fastest in Q1 behind Spaniard Marc Márquez (Honda), who guaranteed him passage to the final qualifying stage.
There Miguel Oliveira tried to protect himself and save some energy.
“We know it’s always difficult to get to Q2 and put in a good performance. We chose to save energy. We needed a first foray to prepare the benchmarks for the fast lap. There are worse qualifying times, there have been better, but I’m happy to have been competitive in Q1, which is always difficult,” he added.
Still, he was “satisfied with the performance” and believes he can “have a good race”.
“It will be difficult for everyone, quite a long time, but I think we have a good chance of moving higher. In the electronics area, we got some performance out of the last corner. The small changes cost us a lot of time. [Francesco] In Bagnaia we were the only ones using the center back and the times are not very different,” Oliveira noted.
The pilot from Almada points to a race “made in a group”. “A good start and a good first lap are essential for the result of the race,” he emphasized.
The Thai MotoGP Grand Prix is the 17th race of the season.
Miguel Oliveira comes to this round in 11th place in the championship, with 106 points, 113 behind the captain, Fábio Quartararo (Yamaha).
Source: DN
