Miguel Oliveira takes seventh in hard-fought Czech GP at Brno

Mahindra rider Miguel Oliveira finished seventh in today’s Czech Republic GP, holding his own in an exciting and sometimes brutal battle for one of the closest ever Moto3™ finishes – the top ten riders crossing the line within a fraction of a second of each other, with overtaking moves right up until the end.

The Portuguese teenager was just 0.356 of a second behind race winner Alexis Masbou (Honda), after 19 laps of the sweeping Brno circuit. The lead group was still 16-strong at the finish, with the last rider in the pack less than two seconds from the winner, but out of the points.

Oliveira had qualified a season-best fifth, and was never below eighth and more often sixth. However with places changing hands on almost every corner of the 5.4-km track, final positions were something of a lottery.

He crossed the line almost alongside South African Brad Binder, riding the Ambrogio Racing customer Mahindra, who took sixth, putting two of the MGP3O machines in the top ten. Mahindra is the only Indian manufacturer in World Championship racing.

The next race is the British GP at Silverstone in two weeks.

Miguel Oliveira – Seventh Place
“That was a really hard race. I got a good start, but it was very hard to keep near the front of a very big group, 16 or 17 riders, and there was a bit of luck involved in the results, with the order very unpredictable. I’m happy because finally we achieved a good qualifying position and rode a constant race to be there all the time. There was a lot of bumping, especially with Jack Miller, but races are like this sometimes. I hope to come back as strong for the next race, and the rest of the season.”

Source: Mahindra Racing