Oliveira takes second row start after leading majority of Mugello qualifying session

Miguel Oliveira was in the spotlight during much of this afternoon Qualifying session towards the Moto3 Grand Premio d’Italia TIM, fifth round of the 2013 MotoGP World Championship. Only at the closing moments of the official practice was Mahindra Racing’s rider surpassed by his rivals. He tried to get back to the front, but the heavy traffic on track prevented him from going higher than the sixth spot on the grid.

It took the Portuguese youngster slightly over four minutes to set the pace and two minutes later he lowered the lap time to 1m58s, a time that remained unbeaten for almost half an hour. The MGP3O rider ended the Qualifying with a best lap of 1m58,480s, a full second faster than his previous best from Saturday’s morning Free Practice.

Oliveira has been very consistent since the beginning of the weekend and after constant improvements since Friday morning he is in excellent position to fight for the top positions in tomorrow’s 20 lap race in Mugello.

Miguel Oliveira: “Fortunately the rain forecast wasn’t confirmed and we were able to continue the work scheduled with the team yesterday. I am quite happy with the result, although in the end, when I put on new tires, the slower riders kept me from improving my lap time. The goal for tomorrow is to take advantage from starting on the second row and keep up with the front group. That’s where I believe my position should be.”

Source: Miguel Oliveira Official Website