Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira (Aprilia) was 11th this Saturday in the sprint race of the French MotoGP Grand Prix, the fifth race of the World Speedbike Championship, remaining out of the points.
Oliveira completed the scheduled 13 laps of Le Mans 13.492 seconds behind the winner, Spaniard Jorge Martin (Ducati), who extended his championship lead.
His compatriot Marc Marquez (Ducati) was second, crossing the line 2.280 seconds after the winner, while his compatriot Maverick Viñales (Aprilia) finished third with a time of 4.174.
Miguel Oliveira started from 12th place, after qualifying best of the season, and worked his way up to 11th place. However, he was overtaken by teammate Raul Fernandez (Aprilia).
The Portuguese rider eventually gained the position after Italian Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati) crashed four laps from the end while he was in second place.
At the front, Martin was always calm from the start, unlike what happened with the defending champion, Italian Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati).
“Pecco” started from second place and was “swallowed” by most of the field, eventually giving up due to the fact that it could not brake and had to take the escape route.
Miguel Oliveira arrived at this sprint race after qualifying for the first time this season.
The Almada driver was second fastest in the first stage, in the first quarter, and moved into the second stage together with Enea Bastianini (Ducati).
In the second stage, Oliveira was 12th.
Saturday’s results saw Jorge Martin score 104 points, increasing his lead in the World Drivers’ Championship from 17 to 28 over Bastianini, while Bagnaia dropped to third with 75 points.
Miguel Oliveira dropped one position to 14th place with 23 points.
The main race of the French Grand Prix will take place on Sunday.