Miguel Oliveira seventh in battle of attrition in Japan

True to the weather forecasts, intense rain played a big part in the action at Twin Ring Motegi on Sunday. With the track in worse conditions than it previously had been during the weekend, and with the Moto2 race reduced to just 15 laps, Miguel Oliveira was able to salvage seventh position and add 9 points to his tally for the season.

Starting from fifth position on the grid, Miguel Oliveira dropped down a place on the opening lap, quickly regaining it on Lap 2. The Portuguese remained in this position until the midway point of the Japanese GP, when he was unable to keep up the pace and was overtaken by two riders.

With no time to rest, the flyaway rounds continue next week in Australia. Miguel Oliveira will arrive at Phillip Island in fourth place overall, with 166 points; Brad Binder is twelfth with 67.

44 Miguel Oliveira:

“It was a difficult race, with lots of water on track. I was not at all comfortable, especially with the rear tyre that didn’t give me a good enough feeling to be able to push more. I was close to the Top 5, but when I understood that I couldn’t go faster I tried to control the race to the best of my ability to finish. Seventh is not the result we had hoped for, but the positive thing is that we finished and now it is time to look ahead to Phillip Island -a circuit that I like and that I think it suits our bike quite well. I’m sure we’ll arrive there strong.”