Miguel Oliveira managed this Saturday to qualify in 10th place to start from the 4th row of the starting grid for this Sunday's race, taking place at the San Marino circuit, in Italy, in what will be the 14th race of the MotoGP. The Portuguese rider managed to qualify directly to Q2, after in the third free practice session of the weekend, even after another non-serious fall, he managed to stay within the top 10 of the combined time table. In Q2 he then managed to close the 10th best time, at 1:32.775, which will allow him to start from that same mark, as soon as the red lights go out, at 13:00 on Sunday.
The first practices in the morning, corresponding to FP3, contrary to the weather forecasts, gave all the riders a dry floor. Miguel Oliveira took to the track with hard and soft tires, front and back respectively, ready to attack again, knowing that the previous day's crash would have limited his work progress. Lap after lap, he managed to reduce his personal mark, having set the 7th best time of the session, with 1m31s955. But, a new fall of the rider from Almada, when he 'fled' the front of his bike, two minutes from the end of the session, almost cost him his place in the much-desired top 10 of qualifying for Q2. Two drivers had their laps canceled at the end of the session, which reinforced Oliveira's direct access to the second timed session.
In FP4, with the usual duration of 30 minutes, the pilot from Almada managed to run 15 laps on the track that honors the name of Marco Simoncelli. He did his best lap in 1m32s914, which put him in 13th position at the end of the session.
For Q2, the rain flag was showed from the start, but the fierce Miguel Oliveira was one of the few riders who took to the track with slick tires – a strategic move by the experienced Almaden rider. Building on that advantage, Oliveira showed his 'time attack' lap after lap, leading the top places in qualifying for most of the session. With several sectors in orange and even red, the rider from Almada was doing his best, but in the meantime, several riders were being called to their respective 'boxes' to get on their bikes prepared for dry ground. He closed his best record in 10th position, with 1m32s775, which will allow him to start tomorrow from the 4th row of the starting grid for tomorrow's race.
This Sunday, the race that will have 27 laps is scheduled for 13:00, mainland Portugal time.
