Oliveira collects four points in the Catalan GP, bad luck for Syahrin.
Miguel Oliveira, from the Red Bull KTM Tech3 team, achieved his second best result in the MotoGP class to date in Barcelona, while the race Hafizh Syahrin was interrupted through no fault of its own.
After a good start in this seventh MotoGP round of the 2019 season, Oliveira found himself in difficulty as he had to avoid a crash in front of him at the end of the first lap. However, thanks to consistent driving, the Portuguese rookie managed to move up a few positions, while he also took advantage of other drivers' mistakes and ultimately placed 12th in the general classification.
At the same time, Syahrin managed to move from P24 to P19 during the first lap and started to gain momentum. Unfortunately, his engine stopped on the fourth lap of the race and the Malaysian was unable to continue.
Hervé Poncharal: “It was a crazy ride here in Catalonia! We knew it would be difficult to finish because of the low grip level, but it actually felt a bit unbelievable for the first few laps with all the crashes. Unfortunately, Miguel, although he had a very good start, was delayed on the first lap and lost a few places during the contact between Aleix Espargaró and Bradley Smith. He had nowhere else to go but into the gravel. As a result, he lost big and returned to the track in last position. From that moment on, his mission was to finish the race, stay on his wheels and see the checkered flag, and that's what he did. The pace was good and I think we could have fought with the guys in front, who were Andrea Iannone and Johann Zarco. But hey… Even if it's not a result where everyone finishes the race, finishing 12th and scoring four points is a good result for the championship and a good reward for the hard work, so thanks to Miguel and his team.
On the other side of the box, I'm really, really sorry for Hafizh, who had a very strong weekend. It's one of his favorite circuits and I think he was in front of Miguel and he was closing in on Tito Rabat, and everything was going well until the engine stopped. We need to investigate what happened, but it is clear that there was a technical problem, which did not allow Hafizh to continue racing. It would have been nice to see both of our guys in the points, but the technical side decided something different. We just want to tell Hafizh “We’re sorry!” It's the day you have the best feeling on the bike that you can't finish the race, it's a real shame! But let's keep the positive aspects; he's getting better and better on the bike and that's boosting his confidence. We still have a lot of races to come, so I hope he has the same feeling at Assen and we can have our two guys fighting for points again. So, sorry to the fans, the race would have been amazing, but it was destroyed after a few laps. Anyway, now we have a one-day test and a few days off, then we head to northern Europe with a first stop in Assen. Thoroughly! ".
Miguel Oliveira, 12th: “It was a difficult race, as we expected. I started very well, gained a lot of positions until I reached turn 10 where I got caught up in the incident where Smith took out Aleix Espargaró. I had to go very far to avoid both and obviously lost a lot of time. I found myself last and it took me a few laps to recover that time and, in the end, I had no reference from anyone and I was alone. I decided to finish the race. I had no one to beat me, so I raced and finished in the points, which was the goal.”
Hafiz Syahrin, retirement: “I'm really disappointed, because my engine stopped after only a few laps. I had a good pace and it's really hard for me to express my feelings because I was sure I could score some points here, or even finish in the top 10 after all these crashes in the race. It's hard to accept, but there's nothing I can do about it. I tried restarting, but it didn't work. The only thing I can do is look forward to the next race. There’s not much else I can say, it’s just a difficult situation.”
Ranking of the MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix in Barcelona:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
