Portuguese driver Miguel Oliveira (Aprilia) finished in 14th place in the race this Saturday sprint of the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix, won by Spaniard Jorge Martin (Ducati), who once again moved closer to the championship leader.
The Portuguese rider, who started from 16th position on the grid, crossed the finish line 18.092 seconds behind the winner, Jorge Martin, who left South African Brad Binder (KTM) in second place, 1.390 seconds behind, along with the Italian Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati). ) in third place, at 5,279.
Miguel Oliveira could not progress to the second stage of qualifying for this 14th round of the season.
Those who advanced from Q1 to Q2 were Spaniards Marc Márquez (Honda) and Raul Fernandez (Aprilia), the Portuguese’s teammate at RNF.
In Q2, Jorge Martin broke the record again at the Motegi circuit in Japan, after Brad Binder had done so the day before, with a best lap time of 1:43.198 minutes.
In the race, Oliveira did not start well, being late in the middle of the pack, while Jorge Martin started like a bullet, aiming to regain points from Francesco Bagnaia, championship leader at the start of this race, with 13 more points.
The Italian, reigning world champion, started from second position but was swallowed up by the two KTMs, owned by Binder and Australian Jack Miller.
While Martin left the front of the race, Bagnaia was busy regaining a place on the podium.
At the end of the first lap Miguel Oliveira was again 16th and climbed two more positions until the end of the race.
Bagnaia managed to lose Jack Miller and reach the bottom step of the podium, but the victory in the sprint race, his fifth this season, allowed Jorge Martin to regain five more points in the battle for the championship.
“To be honest, I expected more. I had problems with the traction of the rear wheel. But we have to be happy with what we have. Jorge is at his best of the season, but we have to stay calm,” emphasized ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia.
The Italian remains in the lead in the championship with 299 points, but is now only eight behind the driver from Madrid.
“We have found our rhythm. Now we will look for a new victory tomorrow,” he promised.
Miguel Oliveira retains the 13th place he started with, with the same 69 points.
Among manufacturers, Ducati leads with 456 points.
The main race takes place on Sunday.
Source: DN
