Miguel Oliveira becomes first Portuguese to secure MotoGP pole

Miguel Oliveira becomes first Portuguese to secure MotoGP pole
Miguel Oliveira

For the first time in MotoGP history, Miguel Oliveira of Red Bull KTM Tech 3 secured pole at the Grande Premio MEO de Portugal and in the process became the first Portuguese to do so. His lap record was a scintillating 1:38.892 and was enough to beat out Franco Morbidelli of Petronas Yamaha SRT by a mere 0.044 seconds in a thrilling qualifying session. Jack Miller of Pramac Racing secured the third position while champion Joan Mir of Team Suzuki Ecstar will start from the 20th position.

The qualifying session was the last of the year. Portugal will now eagerly watch to see if Oliveira will take advantage of his pole position and win the main race to end his season on a high. The final race will see the Constructor title decided.

Portugal witnesses riveting qualifying session

The qualifying session began after a slight delay and the pace was set in the beginning by champion Joan Mir and Franco Morbidelli. The duo topped the early stages of the Q1 round. But since Morbidelli exceeded track limits, his lap times were cancelled. Mir however endured a horror time as he could only muster a 20th placed finish in the end.

FS Video

All eyes were thus on local lad Oliveria who was giving it has all. Oliveria finished with a phenomenal lap but had to wait before celebrating. In the end, it was the Portuguese who just about beat out Morbidelli to grab pole position. Morbidelli was excellent on the track as well as he fell just 0.044 seconds short of pole. Remarkably, he was also just one-tenth of a second ahead of third placed Jack Miller.

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