Miguel Oliveira and undoubtedly his Portuguese public were certainly expecting more than an eleventh place at the end of qualifying on the drying track in Portimao on Saturday. Sixth on Friday, leader at the end of FP3, the KTM official and former winner on this track was one of the feared drivers in Q2. But his RC16 decided otherwise…
Miguel Oliveira experienced the throes of technical problems on its KTM at the most fateful moment of his qualifications Portuguese Grand Prix. It is for this reason that he had to settle for eleventh place, just ahead of his teammate Brad Binder, who was the victim of the yellow flags. The local for this fifth stage of the championship explains: “ weather conditions changed during the day compared to Friday “, said the official Red Bull KTM rider. “ We were strong in the wet FP3 and in fact in all conditions. During qualifying 2, I had a small technical problem after the halfway mark of 15 minutes. Consequently, I was not able to develop optimal performance. But in these tricky conditions, the most important thing was to stay on the bike and get the best possible position on the grid. ».
Because all four free practice sessions took place on a wet track, teams are still in the dark regarding tire selection and setup for what will likely be a dry Sunday. “ The warm up will be extremely important. In these 20 minutes we must find out what the needs are according to Sunday standards. Then we won't have the perfect bike for the 23 laps of the race. But it's pretty much the same for everyone ».
Miguel Oliveira: “ I preferred to stay on the track and tried to handle the problem myself«
« The technical problem in Q2 occurred about four minutes before the end ", said Olive tree, who won the Rain Grand Prix in Mandalika in 2022. “ So, it made no sense to enter, change motorcycles and change tires again. I preferred to stay on the track and tried to handle the problem myself ». Olive tree adds: " It took about two or three laps before I figured out where we could attack. With a track drying out so quickly, you can immediately increase your speed by 2 seconds. But I think I was a little too slow and the technical problem made my pace suffer a little. My last round was canceled because of this. Otherwise, I would at least be one position ahead ».
« I guess my starting position is no indication of my racing capabilities. “, said the four-time MotoGP winner. “ I trust myself more. We don't know exactly what the race will bring ". A feeling of uncertainty shared by all his playmates, which makes this Portuguese Grand Prix particularly indecisive.
MotoGP Portugal J2: starting grid
Credit classification motogp.com
