Miguel Oliveira delivers superb second in Australia
Portuguese rider takes second in race in which Álex Rins comes close to a podium finish. Álex Márquez takes ninth and Viñales crashes when fighting for third.
It was a great weekend for Miguel Oliveira at the Grand Prix of Australia, which he finished with a superb second place, after battling for victory with Sandro Cortese —who won his fifth race of the season. Fighting in the second group for the final podium spot, a combative Álex Rins was just 53 thousandths of a second off third place. Also commendable was the race made by Álex Marquez, who moved up ten places from row seven to finish in the top ten. The disappointment in the race fell to Maverick Viñales, who crashed whilst running third and leading the second group.
Despite starring not getting a good start and losing a couple of positions off the line, Miguel Oliveira quickly adapted at Phillip Island. Immersed in the leading group, the Repsol rider progressed to a stick to the rear wheel of Sandro Cortese. Álex Rins and Maverick Viñales also had excellent first laps.
The group numbered nine riders until, taking advantage of penalties given to Salom and Folger for jumping the start, Cortese forced up the pace, taking Oliveira with him and leaving behind seven other riders battling for the third step of the podium. On the tail of of Cortese, Oliveira sought out his opportunity with six laps to go, taking the lead, but a lap later the German passed him back. The Repsol rider had no option to fight for the win, passing under the checkered flag two seconds behind the German and taking his best result in the World Championship.
Behind them, the fight for the podium was relentless, with Viñales until nine laps remained and he crashed when trying to escape the group. Rins took over the charge, fighting Sissis, Kent and Fenati —with whom he is contesting the rookie of the year title. In the end, Sissis was first of the group, 53 thousandths of a second ahead of Rins. Behind this pack, a great performance by Álex Marquez from nineteenth saw him move up ten places to cross the finish line in ninth position.
Miguel Oliveira
“It was a tough race in which we fought hard. In the warmup I suffered two crashes that worried me, but in the race, riding behind Sandro [Cortese], I felt very comfortable. I managed to keep up and at the end when he overtook me, I focused on keeping second place. I am very happy with this podium. It has been a season of ups and downs, but in the last few races I have been improving gradually and today we confirmed this improvement. I am very happy for the team because we worked hard. With this podium, we can go to Valencia relaxed and aim to have fun.”
Álex Rins
“I’m very happy, because neither I nor the team expected this fourth in my first race at Phillip Island. We started far behind, but I managed to put myself in the front group on the early laps, maintaining a good fight with Sissis, Kent and Fenati. I watched what Fenati was doing quite a lot. I repeatedly tried to pass on the last lap, but I managed to keep my position. When I came in fifth into the final straight, I did not expect to beat Kent on the KTM, but I did and I’m very satisfied.”
Álex Márquez
“It was a good race. We started without any rhythm and without a good setup, but in the warm up we made some changes that worked well and I knew I could grow in strength in the race. It is true that we benefited from some riders jumping the start, but we still got a deserved ninth place despite how I felt on the bike this time. Now we go to Valencia, a track I know and I where know that we can do very well, so now I’ll be very motivated.”
Maverick Viñales
“It was a bad crash, considering that we had the runner-up spot at stake. I found it hard to overtake today and anything can happen when you are at the limit. We have to fight to go on, as the place in the championship is still 10 points away and we can still get it at Valencia.”
Source: Repsol Media
