Local hero Oliveira continues to shine and qualifies for first row, Moncayo 5th

Team Andalucía Banca Civica has once again proven that this season they are capable of very strong results. Both Miguel Oliveira and Alberto Moncayo were among the top positions in all practice sessions and when it was time for the qualifying they didn’t stay behind. Oliveira managed to post the third-fastest time and will start from the front row at his home race while his teammate Moncayo will start from fifth.

The weather in Portugal remained very unstable and although the clouds didn’t disappear, the sun did shine through. There remained a few damp patches on the track from yesterday’s storm, but the threat of rain finally did not materialize and the riders were able to fight hard to achieve their best laptimes.
Yesterday’s conditions were better than today and very few riders were able to improve their laptime from yesterday. But the good work of the Team Andalucía has paid off and their riders were the only two among the Top 10 who were able to improve and they’ve done so by more than half a second.
Moncayo and Oliveira have worked hard to get a good setup for their bikes and, convinced that they had much room for improvement, they’ve done their maximum to attack the top positions.

Miguel, who rides in front of his home crowd in only his third Grand Prix, was the surprise of the day with taking third position on the grid, but he is staying calm and focused on his goals.
Teammate Alberto Moncayo, who could also greatly improve his best times from yesterday, finished in an excellent fifth position which gives him a lot of motivation for the race tomorrow.

MIGUEL OLIVEIRA, 3º (1’47.405)
“I am very happy. Things have gone very well, we tried to improve the times from yesterday and we achieved that and also given today’s conditions this is very positive. I am very happy with the bike, the team has worked to perfection, they have given me the opportunity to try different settings and we found a setup with which I am very comfortable. The result of this work could not have been better, finishing on the first row is a very good result and it gives me a lot of tranquility for the start which lately has not been my strongest point.
About the track, it’s a layout I like a lot, with hard braking and cornering, something that suits my riding style. But contrary to what most people think, I have much more experience on Spanish circuits where I have always competed. I’m very focused and eager to continue this way and show a good performance in the race tomorrow.”

ALBERTO MONCAYO, 5º (1’47.750)
We’ve improved our best time from yesterday by half a second and this is a sign of the good work we have done during these days. We had a very good progression, I’ll try again tomorrow to continue this and get the best result; at least I would like to be among the top five. It would be perfect to finish this GP with a good result and take the thorn out of our sides which we have since the Grand Prix in Jerez, but it will not be easy because there are many very strong riders who will grit their teeth tomorrow, but we also have an ace up our sleeve which will allow us to improve for the race.
My aim will be to have a good start, not let the front group escape and attack in the right moment.”

Source: Team Machado