Driver Miguel Oliveira (Aprilia) finished in 18th place in the race this Saturday sprint of the Malaysian MotoGP Grand Prix, 18th round of the season, won by Spaniard Alex Márquez (Ducati).
Oliveira, who started from 19th position, finished the 10 laps 15.058 seconds behind the winner, Alex Márquez, who left his compatriot Jorge Martin (Ducati) in second place, at 1.589 seconds, while the Italian Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati ) finished in third place. 3,034 seconds.
In this way, Jorge Martin regained two points from the championship leader, ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia, putting him 11 behind first place.
But the rider from Madrid had a scare during the training lap when he saw a part coming loose from his bike, a problem that was solved by his mechanics.
Bagnaia left leading position but he quickly showed he didn’t have the pace to keep up with Jorge Martin and Alex Máquez, who dominated the weekend in Malaysia.
Miguel Oliveira made a bad start and finished the first lap in 21st place, having lost two positions from the starting spot.
The Portuguese driver recovered during the ten laps and closed the race sprint in 18th place.
Meanwhile, Alex Márquez at the front started his attack for victory early, but on the third lap he was unable to brake and dropped to third place. He would take command on lap six and win a race for the second time sprint this season, after winning in Great Britain, breaking Jorge Martin’s run of five consecutive wins.
The Spaniard also managed to get rid of Bagnaia in the sixth round, making up some ground in the battle for the world title.
Also note the 27th crash of Spaniard Marc Márquez (Honda), which equals his negative record from 2017.
The Catalan rider, who leaves Honda, resumed the race and finished 21st.
With these results, Bagnaia achieved 396 points, 11 more than Jorge Martin.
“I did my best, but my best today was not enough to win,” the Italian underlined, after a grueling race in high temperatures.
Miguel Oliveira remains 15th in the championship, with 76 points.
Source: DN
