Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira (Aprilia) finished this Saturday in 14th place in the sprint race of the Japanese MotoGP Grand Prix, won by Spaniard Jorge Martin (Ducati), who once again moved closer to the championship leader.
The Portuguese rider, who started from 16th on the grid, crossed the line 18.092 seconds behind winner Jorge Martin, who finished ahead of South African Brad Binder (KTM) in second place, 1.390 seconds behind Italian Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati). ) in third place with 5,279.
Miguel Oliveira failed to qualify for the second stage of qualifying for the 14th round of the season.
From the first quarter to the second, the Spaniards Marc Marques (Honda) and Raul Fernandez (Aprilia), the Portuguese’s RNF teammate, continued the race.
In Q2, Jorge Martin again broke the record at the Motegi Circuit in Japan after Brad Binder had done so the previous day, setting the best lap time of 1:43.198 minutes.
In the race, Oliveira started poorly, he was late in the middle of the group, while Jorge Martin started like a bullet, aiming to take the points back from Francesco Bagnai, the championship leader at the start of this race, with a further 13 points. points.
The Italian, the reigning world champion, started from second position but found himself swallowed up by the two KTMs of Binder and Australian Jack Miller.
While Martin crashed out of contention ahead of the race, Banaya was busy trying to regain his place on the podium.
At the end of the first lap, Miguel Oliveira was again 16th, moving up two more positions before the end of the race.
Banaia managed to shake off Jack Miller and reach the bottom step of the podium, but victory in the sprint race, his fifth of the season, allowed Jorge Martin to regain another five points in the championship race.
“To be honest, I expected more. I had problems with the traction of the rear wheels. But we should be happy with what we have. Jorge is in his best form of the season, but we must remain calm,” stressed “Pecco” Bagnaia.
The Italian continues to lead the championship with 299 points, but the Madrid driver is now just eight points behind.
“We have found our rhythm. Now tomorrow we will look for another victory,” he promised.
Miguel Oliveira maintains the 13th place where he started, with the same 69 points.
Among manufacturers, Ducati leads with 456 points.
The main race will take place on Sunday.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.