The second Grand Prix of the year -and the only round held in South America- got underway this Friday at the Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 Portuguese rider had a great first day, completing FP1 and FP2 among the fastest on track and having the best pace. Second position for Miguel Oliveira on the combined timesheet allows him to aspire to the podium on Sunday.
Miguel Oliveira came out very strong in the first Free Practice of the weekend. He was permanent fixture at the sharp end of the timesheet. Miguel Oliveira finished the session in second -1:44.631-, less than 3 tenths off the fastest rider.
In the afternoon, the rain made an appearance and made work somewhat more difficult. Before the first drops fell, Miguel Oliveira was in first. However, after a quarter of an hour, the light shower slowed down the pace and prevented the Portuguese rider from improving on his morning times. The rain intensified with 18 minutes to go, forcing him to enter the pits. Finally, Oliveira finished second -1:44.805-, 3 thousandths of a second off the best time of the session.
Miguel Oliveira #44
"Today has been a very productive day. We had a first session in which we were looking at what the new asphalt was like. At the end of the day we were able to put in a lot of laps and we were lucky with the weather, as it didn't rain until the middle of the second session. We were hoping to improve our lap times a little in the afternoon and see what the bike needed to finish defining the setup, but it started to rain. Tomorrow I think that if the weather is good we can have a good qualifying session, in order to begin the race with a chance."
After today's results, expectations for tomorrow's QP are high. The starting grid for Sunday will be decided from 5:30pm portuguese local time.
Results (Combined practice times FP1-FP2)
1. Mattia Pasini (Kalex) 1:44.461
2. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:44.631 +0.170
3. Francesco Bagnaia (Kalex) 1:44.736 +0.275
4. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:44.745 +0.284
5. Alex Marquez (Kalex) 1:44.802 +0.341
