“Amazing” and “spectacular” were just some of the words used to describe Portuguese motorcyclist Miguel Oliveira’s victory at the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley last weekend.
The race, part of the Moto2 World Championship, started with Oliveira placed 11th in the grid before a monumental recovery to finish first.
“I knew that after the qualifying race I needed to get a good start. I managed to start well with a good first lap,” the 23-year-old said.
The Portuguese rider saw his opportunity to shine when race leader Marcel Schroetter (Dynavolt Intact GP) crashed at the second turn.
Oliveira was able to climb his way up to third by the end of the first lap before taking the lead on lap three, with Francesco Bagnaia (SKY Racing Team VR46), Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team), Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), Joan Mir (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), Romano Fenati (Marinelli Snipers Team) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Pons HP40) chasing behind.
The fight for the win went into overdrive in the last three laps with Baldassarri, Oliveira, Bagnaia and Mir all with chances to reach the top spot on the podium.
As the official MotoGP website explains: “Going into a fantastic final lap, Baldassarri had a slight buffer. However, the 21-year-old then had a huge moment on the exit of Turn 5 pushing for an illustrious second home win, which allowed Oliveira to close in and pass the Italian into Turn 6. Bagnaia was third before running slightly wide at Savelli, allowing Mir to move into the final podium position.”
Oliveira was ecstatic after the win and admitted that the race’s ending was epic.
“The finish was fun and spectacular. I’m super happy to take this win after a tough beginning to the season. We have been consistent but not really fighting for wins, but today we did that and I’m really happy.”
Miguel Oliveira is now placed second in the Moto2 standings, behind Bagnaia.
