MotoGP: Oliveira gives Red Bull KTM boost with win in Spain

Red Bull KTM’s Miguel Oliveira held off a late surge from Pramac Ducati’s Johann Zarco to win the Catalonia MotoGP on Sunday.

Australian Jack Miller on the works Ducati took third after championship leader Fabio Quartararo was hit with a three-second penalty for straying off the track a few laps from the end.

Oliveira gives Red Bull KTM boost

“Everything was so hard: tyre management, keeping cool when Fabio was putting the pressure on me for so many laps,” said Oliveira. 

“I kept it really cool when he overtook me. I saw my chance on the straight and overtook him back. It was the perfect race.”

Both Quartararo and Miller briefly led the Catalonia MotoGP, but both had problems on a hot afternoon.

Yamaha star Quartararo was penalised three seconds for going way off the track on his bike at the chicane four laps from the end.

Quartararo also finished the race barechested, after unzipping his jacket, pulling out his chest protector and discarding it. The Frenchman remains top of the rider standings but Zarco has cut the gap to just 17 points.

Miller climbed to third, overtaking his factor Ducati team-mate, Italian Francesco Bagnaia, who was seventh on the day. 

Defending champion Joan Mir, who started 10th on the grid on his Suzuki, finished fifth, while multiple world champions Marc Marquez (Honda) and Italian Valentino Rossi (Yamaha-SRT) retired after crashes. 

Zarco, who has yet to win in the premier class, moved through the pack late in the race but was not quite able to catch the smooth-riding Oliveira for his maiden MotoGP win. 

“The last two laps I tried to catch Miguel,” said Zarco. “But he just told me was also controlling well. I was not close enough to try to attack him.”

The race was the first this season to allow fans, with a crowd of 24,000, 20 per cent of capacity permitted. 

After crossing the line, Oliveira raced to the stands to collect a Portuguese flag from a fan.

“Thank you to all the fans here everything has been amazing this weekend with the public back in the grandstand and it feels good to be back to normal,” said Oliveira.

Catalonia MotoGP results

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	88	Miguel OLIVEIRA	POR	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	166.1	40’21.749
2	20	5	Johann ZARCO	FRA	Pramac Racing	Ducati	166.1	+0.175
3	16	43	Jack MILLER	AUS	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	166.0	+1.990
4	13	20	Fabio QUARTARARO	FRA	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	166.0	+4.815
5	11	36	Joan MIR	SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	165.7	+5.325
6	10	12	Maverick VIÑALES	SPA	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	165.7	+6.281
7	9	63	Francesco BAGNAIA	ITA	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	165.5	+8.175
8	8	33	Brad BINDER	RSA	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	165.5	+8.378
9	7	21	Franco MORBIDELLI	ITA	Petronas Yamaha SRT	Yamaha	165.0	+15.652
10	6	23	Enea BASTIANINI	ITA	Avintia Esponsorama	Ducati	164.8	+19.297
11	5	73	Alex MARQUEZ	SPA	LCR Honda CASTROL	Honda	164.6	+21.650
12	4	10	Luca MARINI	ITA	SKY VR46 Avintia	Ducati	164.6	+22.533
13	3	30	Takaaki NAKAGAMI	JPN	LCR Honda IDEMITSU	Honda	164.2	+27.833
14	2	89	Jorge MARTIN	SPA	Pramac Racing	Ducati	164.1	+29.075
15	1	32	Lorenzo SAVADORI	ITA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	163.4	+40.291
Not Classified
		27	Iker LECUONA	SPA	Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing	KTM	165.3	8 Laps
		46	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Petronas Yamaha SRT	Yamaha	164.9	9 Laps
		41	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	165.5	14 Laps
		93	Marc MARQUEZ	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	165.0	17 Laps
		9	Danilo PETRUCCI	ITA	Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing	KTM	163.2	19 Laps
		44	Pol ESPARGARO	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	163.5	20 Laps

Weather Conditions:

 |   Track Condition: Dry|   Air: 25º| Humidity: 54%|   Ground: 41º

Records:

Pole Lap:		Fabio QUARTARARO	1’38.853	169.5 Km/h
Fastest Lap:	Lap: 8	Johann ZARCO	1’39.939	167.7 Km/h
Best Race Lap.:	2021	Johann ZARCO	1’39.939	167.7 Km/h
All Time Lap Record:	2021	Fabio QUARTARARO	1’38.853	169.5 Km/h