KTM Tech3 Racing´s rider Miguel Oliveira has taken a flawless victory at his home PortugueseGP in Portimao after an outstanding performance this Sunday to spread the champagne at the Algarve International Circuit.
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Very close to the places of honour arrived Pol Espargaro, in fourth. The pilot from Granollers was hoping to say goodbye to KTM with a great result and has really given it all he had in Portugal. Takaaki Nakagami finished one place behind the Catalan, after another strong Sunday on the back of his LCR Honda at PortugueseGP.
There were a number of other honours achieved at this season’s finale. Morbidelli took the runners-up spot with 158 points, 18 more than Alex Rins (Suzuki) who has finished third.
The Italo-Brazilian has completed a great season outperforming the official team (Maverick Viñales & Valentino Rossi) to take best rider on a satellite Yamaha.
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A great start for Oliveira
As lights went off, Oliveira got the holeshot to keep his pole position comfortably from the start of the PortugueseGP. Morbidelli got settled behind the local idol, recovering his starting second place after making a mistake and briefly losing it to Miller a few meters later.
In an explosive opening lap, season’s champion Joan Mir climbed seven spots to seventh. Emulating his teammate, Suzuki’s Alex Rins, rose to sixth, two positions ahead of a brilliant Cal Crutchlow.
At the head, Oliveira began to impose a hellish pace. After just three laps and with 22 to go he already enjoyed a 2.3-seconds lead over his pursuers.
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Morbidelli and Miller kept up as best as they could, unable to pick up the pace of #88. Crutchlow followed at 1.4 seconds from the Australian from Pramac Racing and leading a lacklustre Pol Espargaro by almost three.
Rins lost a lot of ground after his touch with Bagnaia, who would later have to quit as a result of the incident. The #42 struggled after sinking to the 17th position, just behind teammate Mir.
The local hero escapes towards the glory
Oblivious to all the battles and tribulations behind, Oliveira continued to widen his lead with a succession of fastest laps at the PortugueseGP. Morbidelli’s hopes to become the pilot with the most victories of the season – and honour that he shared in a tie with teammate Fabio Quartararo – were quickly fading away. His only chance would have to come from a mechanical or human failure on Oliveira’s side and that was not likely to happen.
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The podium positions remained unchanged with Oliveira crowning a glorious victory on home soil with 3.193 seconds over Miller and 3.298 over Morbidelli, third.
Images of PortugueseGP MotoGP: Tech 3Racing.
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