Miguel Oliveira improves to fifth row of Jerez grid

The cool temperatures in the morning and slightly damp track did not slow down the riders of the Leopard Racing Team in Saturday’s FP3 session. Both Danny Kent and Miguel Oliveira used the session to set their reference times and get a feel for what they might be able to achieve in Qualifying. Oliveira removed nearly a second from his time, taking a major step forward with his Kalex as Danny Kent pushed the top five, ending sixth.

Oliveira was particularly strong in the first sector of the Andalusian track, which he considers his home track at the championship no longer visits Portugal.

In official Qualifying in the afternoon, the pace became even tighter, poleman Sam Lowes blowing past the old record on his way to pole. Both Leopard Racing riders kept their powder dry and achieved the best they could. The two will be almost next to each other on the grid, 0.086s splitting the teammates. It went in favour of Oliveira who will line up in 14th for tomorrows race. Kent will begin just behind in 15th and ahead of reigning World Champion Johann Zarco.

Both riders were within 0.7s of the pole record, the intermediate class reaching an incredibly competitive level at a circuit familiar to everyone. Kent received a one-place grid penalty for riding slowly on the racing line during practice and will start 16th as a result.

Tomorrow at 09:10 Local Time (GMT +2) the rider will be back on track for 20 minutes of Warm Up before the lights go out at 12:20 Local Time for the fourth race of the 2016 Moto2 World Championship.

#44 Miguel OLIVEIRA – 14th (1’43.083):
“It’s been a very productive day, I was 12th this morning and 14th in the afternoon. We made only minor changes to the setting, focusing on race pace again. The strategy was the right one in the end. I’m happy because it’s my best qualifying so far and should help us to close on the front group. I’m confident for tomorrow’s race, I want to recover immediately and score some points.”

Source: Leopard Racing