Miguel Oliveira arrived at the Australian Grand Prix crowned with the victory taken during the last meeting in Thailand. But on Saturday, he had to change his laurel crown for a dunce cap after behaving like a fool during FP3. Having made a test start one lap from the end of the session, he caused a yellow flag before hindering Enea Bastianini who was on her fast lap with a view to reaching Q2. For these two facts, the Portuguese was logically penalized by three places on the grid and a long lag in the race. Starting from the depths of the ranking and despite this pitfall, he finished 12th in his race at Phillip Island. Something to have regrets…
Regrets, but also a bad memory. Because before talking about his Sunday, Miguel Oliveira looks back on his Saturday: “ It was entirely my fault. In the very fast start/finish straight, I almost didn't have time to look at the signs. I crossed the finish line without checking if the checkered flag was there. Afterwards, I put the guys and myself in danger because I tried to start a lap too early. It definitely wasn't my best moment ».
Miguel Oliveira: “ I can't wait to put this weekend behind me »
The Portuguese adds: “ My mistake did not have serious consequences. Okay, but I disturbed Bastianini a little and I'm sorry for that too. I think the long lap penalty hurt me more in the race. When you ride with fast people, such a penalty can change everything. The pace showed that I could have fought for more than 12th place ". And in fact, when reading the times, the five-time winner in MotoGP, each time on KTM, had the potential to run for sixth place…
« I'm happy to have finished my race in the points zone » finished the teammate Brad Binder who finished tenth. “ I enjoyed the bike and given the pace, I would say it could have been even better. Now I can't wait to put this weekend behind me and fly to Sepang for the next round of the championship. I think we can be very competitive ».
MotoGP Australia Race: standings
Credit classification motogp.com
