Appearing before the public, Oliveira became one of the most competitive racers in the opening series of this calendar at Portimao. After struggling for the podium in the Sprint Race on the Aprilia RS-GP, he again showed his fangs in Sunday’s race.
He had led the group in the early laps, before being overtaken by Francesco Bagnaia. On the third lap, the front wheel of Marquez’s motorbike was locked and when he released the brake. The Honda Racing rider tried to avoid Jorge Martin but instead crashed into Oliveira.
The former KTM racer lay on the ground feeling his leg hurt. Medics also transported him for further examination. Oliveira has not suffered any fractures, but the six-time MotoGP champion has suffered a broken right hand.
After the accident, Marquez went to find Oliveira in the RNF garage to apologize. However, only meeting the team boss, Razlan Razali. He just met his match at the medical center.
“I’m very sad to end my home race like this, with an accident. I was able to improve my start on Saturday and I’m in a position to fight to finish in the top five. Since Saturday my worst result was sixth in the warm-up, so he very competitive,” said the Portuguese racer, who fully understands Marquez’s condition.
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“Unfortunately Marc got injured. Maybe he braked too late, he was too optimistic when he overtook him. He could have avoided Martin, but not me. Nobody deliberately caused an accident, but for sure in the first two laps he wanted to overtake in the wrong place.
“We met at the Clinic and he told me he might have a problem with the brakes. I have no more to say, I respect that. I accept his apology.
“At the same time, when you have problems with the bike, you try to brake a little bit earlier.”
The pain in his hip lessened with time. He hopes to be ready to go down in MotoGP Argentina this weekend.
“I have a pretty bad bruise on my right hip, and I will treat it. So far no fractures, but there may be ligament damage,” he said.
