Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira (Aprilia) finished sixth in Saturday’s sprint race of the MotoGP Catalunya Grand Prix, the 11th round of the World Motorcycling Championship.
The pilot from Almada completed the 12 laps 4.940 seconds behind the winner, Spaniard Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia), beating Italian Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) by 1.989 seconds, while Spaniard Maverick Viñales (Aprilia) finished third, at 2,040.
Miguel Oliveira started from third on the grid but was swallowed up by the pack and dropped to seventh on the first lap.
But two laps later he was already fifth, a position he held for most of the race, until he was overtaken by Spaniard Jorge Martin (Ducati) as the curtain fell.
In fact, the day started badly for the Portuguese rider, with a crash during morning free practice in a session that eventually put him in the lead.
Oliveira was also fastest in Q1, the first qualifying session, beating Spaniard Marc Márquez (Honda) by 0.281 seconds.
The two progressed to Q2, where the Portuguese rider was third fastest, 0.109 seconds behind pole position author, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), and just 0.005 seconds behind second place, Aleix Espargaró, in what was his best qualifying session. since he joined Aprilia. .
With these results, Bagnaia consolidated its lead in the World Drivers’ Championship, now with 260 points, to 194 for Jorge Martin, who is second.
Miguel Oliveira retains 15th place, with 44 points.
The main race of this 11th race of the season takes place on Sunday.
Source: DN
