Miguel Oliveira finished his French Grand Prix with honors and he was able to return to the Tech3 box with a feeling of accomplishment. So many good things that his boss Hervé Poncharal also detected. And yet, the Portuguese has a taste of unfinished business. The fault lies with Johann Zarco who surprised him in the final stages. The KTM rider then thought he would finish fourth. And he found himself sixth…
Started twelfth on a wet track with his KTM, Miguel Oliveira crossed the finish line of the track Mans sixth. Not bad, but like Pol Espargaro finished his race third which allows him to take the lead in the ranking of the Austrian brand's drivers in the general classification, there is nothing to jump to the ceiling either. Especially since in view of the checkered flag, the Portuguese imagined himself rather fourth…
The winner of Grand Prix of Styria a little earlier in the season explains: “ I had planned a maneuver against Dovi for the last round. But I left the door too open in the last corner and Zarco came through. I had divided the race well and remained calm. The result could have been better, but the most important thing is that I was competitive. It was important after round zero in Barcelona ».
Peace with Bagnaia
Like almost all pilots, Olive tree had opted for the soft front and rear tires of Michelin . " There were still a few drops of rain in the middle of the race, so we were able to cool the tires a bit ", said the pilot KTM. " I should have chosen the medium tire for the front, it was a big advantage. I could barely brake and the front of the bike was moving a lot. It made my life difficult ».
At the world championship, Olive tree is ninth in the general classification with 69 points after 9 races out of 14 and therefore only has four points less than Pol Espargaro (8th) as best of the quartet KTM.
By the way, during this French Grand Prix, there was a peak of tension between Miguel Oliveira and Pecco Bagnaia following a disagreement in Q2. The Portuguese had it bad, but he wants to point out that the peace pipe was smoked with his Italian rival: “ ihe came to me immediately and apologized", Report Olive tree who then castigated a child behavior from his rival. “ It was a nice gesture on his part because he realized his behavior wasn't the best. I told him what I had to say."
« He's a nice guy and a very good driver. In the heat of the moment, you sometimes do crazy things. We are human beings. He apologized. It was a bigger move than he had made on the track before."
MotoGP Le Mans France J3: classification
Championship:
