The 4th round of the MotoGP World Championship took place between the 28th and 30th of April, at Jerez de La Frontera, southern Spain. A weekend that began with Miguel Oliveira going straight to Q2, who showed strong progress throughout the sessions held and a very good and promising result in the sprint race on Saturday, with P5. On Sunday, race day, the Portuguese rider, in front of a house full of spectators, was knocked down again in a collision with other riders, resulting in a fall and injury, and consequent inability to compete in the Spanish GP.
Friday was marked by the usual training sessions (P1 and P2). Oliveira showed his consistent progress during the morning, but a technical issue on the last lap meant that he ended up finishing “Practice 1” in P13.
With temperatures rising for "Practice 2", the Portuguese rider managed to substantially improve his time by 0.677 seconds, to settle in P7 on the day's combined time table, and thus ensure direct entry to Q2 the following day, Saturday.
"The first practice was a bit disappointing at the end because we had a little problem with the front brake and we couldn't do the time attack at the end. We knew it was a good opportunity, in terms of temperature and wind conditions, to attack, but it wasn't ideal. However, we got the most out of the second practice, we did a good job and all the Aprilias were very competitive. (…) We always go our own way, but it's good when we perform very close to our colleagues factory in Q2", says Miguel Oliveira.
Saturday was strong and somewhat spectacular for the Cryptodata RNF MotoGP Team. Miguel Oliveira demonstrated his mastery and speed on the track in yet another free practice session, having led the time sheet in P1.
During Qualifying, it started to rain, but the Charneca de Caparica rider, who left on slicks for the track, experienced mixed feelings and managed the 7th fastest lap of the session, just 0.138 seconds from the 1st row of the starting grid.
The Sprint Race took place under summer temperatures on Spanish soil. However, some collisions on the first lap meant that the race – originally scheduled with 12 laps – had to restart, this time with 11 laps.
At the start of the Sprint Race, Oliveira left the front seat on the 3rd row of the ‘grid’ and achieved an extraordinary start. Then, with the restart of the race, Miguel was already in 6th place at the end of the 1st lap and kept his pace, fighting with his Aprilia colleague Aleix Espargaró, until the Spaniard crashed on the 6th lap. The rider from Almada then managed to pass to 5th with just 5 laps to go and defended himself from Dani Pedrosa's overtaking attempts until he passed the checkered flag. Got 5 points for P5 in the Sprint Race.
"It was a difficult race. I felt that when the race restarted, we didn't change the tire and that may have compromised us a little bit in the option of doing a better result. It was difficult to manage the front of the bike. I didn't have the best feeling and the better grip on the left side of the rear to be as competitive as the other riders in front of me. But we had that information to improve for the long race", says the Portuguese rider of Cryptodata RNF MotoGP Team.
Practically sold out on Sunday, the Angél Nieto Circuit had a house full of enthusiastic spectators waiting to witness 'in person' the teams and riders in Sunday's race, scheduled to take place with 25 laps, along the 4,420km of track. But, a new episode of collision, still on the 1st lap, set the unexpected tone for the rest of the race.
With a place on the starting grid in P7, Miguel Oliveira had a good start, but was unfortunately sidelined on the 1st lap. His race came to an abrupt end at turn 2 after he collided with several riders. The race was red flagged and Oliveira was immediately taken to the medical centre, where it was revealed that he had dislocated his left shoulder. Later, at the local hospital in Jerez de La Frontera, a fracture was also found at this point.
“This beginning of the year is by far the one I envisioned. Today 'luck' knocked on the door again and as a result I dislocated my shoulder. I will carry out further tests to understand the extent of the injury. Faith and patience in the recovery and looking forward”, commented Miguel Oliveira at the end of the day on Sunday, also leaving a thanks message to all the fans, for their support.
In the next coming days, will be revealed more details of his clinical progression and the possibility of being considered fit for the next GP in Le Mans, France, the 5th round of the MotoGP World Championship, which takes place between May 12th and 14th.
