- 2020-11-22
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SPORTS
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Donate to support families affected by the crisis in Ukraine ➔ MotoGP Portugal: Miguel Oliveira Takes Maiden MotoGP Pole Position in Portugal
The final round of MotoGP 2020, MotoGP Portugal took place at Algarve international circuit in Portugal on November 21st.
This marks the first time MotoGP has visited Portugal since 2012.
In Qualifying, Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech3) took his maiden MotoGP pole position on home soil with 1'38.892 seconds.
Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha) advanced to Q2 from Q1 and was 2nd position behind Miguel Oliveira by 0.044 seconds. Jack Miller (Pramac Ducati) was 3rd position, which is back-to-back front rows following Valencia GP.
Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha) and Stefan Bradl (Repsol Honda) will start on 2nd row tomorrow. Especially, Stefan Bradl got his best result of 2020.
Alex Rins (Suzuki Ecstar) was 10th and in need of a big recovery on Sunday on his quest for runner-up spot in the championship.
The World Champion Joan Mir (Suzuki Ecstar) qualified 20th, which is his worst premier class qualifying position.
Miguel Oliveira said, “I feel strong for sure and my pace is looking very promising for the race, we had four tyre compounds to test at the same time that we needed to sort out the set-up of the bike so it's not easy going into the race not knowing what is going to happen after 15 laps, but I am relaxed. I feel good and I feel I can be consistent throughout the whole race.
The feeling is special to make a pole in Portugal, especially because in this moment we don't have much going on in terms of sport and people here are thirsty for some kind of emotion.
The win, yes… though in this unusual season it would have been nice to be more consistent.I failed to make the top ten twice with three crashes, so I think I could have done a little bit better. All in all I think my season was OK and I feel like I am going into next year a little bit stronger and with a different kind of experience to be able to fight in a more consistent way for top five finishes. It is really nice, leaving Tech 3 is a shame, we have developed over these 3 years a very good relationship, I will be missing it the most, but this is the life of the paddock, this is the chance to go even further in my riding skills and i think the factory racing team can offer me the kind of tools to be ready to fight for victories.”
Grande Prémio MEO de Portugal Qualifying Results- Miguel Oliveira / Red Bull KTM Tech3 / 1'38.892s
- Franco Morbidelli / Petronas Yamaha / +0.044s
- Jack Miller / Pramac Ducati / +0.146s
- Cal Crutchlow / LCR Honda / +0.264s
- Fabio Quartararo / Petronas Yamaha / +0.307s
- Stefan Bradl / Repsol Honda / +0.312s
- Johann Zarco / Reale Avintia / +0.346s
- Maverick Viñales / Monster Yamaha / +0.368s
- Pol Espargaro / Red Bull KTM / +0.392s
- Alex Rins / Suzuki Ecstar / +0.575s
- Takaaki Nakagami / LCR Honda / +0.639s
- Andrea Dovizioso / Ducati Team / +0.695s
- Brad Binder / Red Bull KTM / 1'39.39s
- Aleix Espargaro / Aprilia Gresini / 1'39.762s
- Francesco Bagnaia / Pramac Ducati / 1'40.019s
- Alex Marquez / Repsol Honda / 1'40.049s
- Valentino Rossi / Monster Yamaha / 1'40.058s
- Danilo Petrucci / Ducati Team / 1'40.091s
- Lorenzo Savadori / Aprilia Gresini / 1'40.174s
- Joan Mir / Suzuki Ecstar / 1'40.29s
- Tito Rabat / Reale Avintia / 1'40.427s
- Mika Kallio / Red Bull KTM Tech3 / 1'41.753s
- source : MotoGP
