MotoGP™: Miguel Oliveira reigns supreme on home soil

The final clash of the 2020 MotoGPTM World Championship at Portimão was won in assertive fashion by local star Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3). The Grande Prémio MEO de Portugal’s pole-sitter comfortably outdistanced Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) and Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) who made it three different bikemakers and two different MICHELIN Power Slick pairings on the podium.

After securing the first MotoGPTM pole of his career on Saturday, Oliveira followed up by defending his advantage at lights-out on symmetric hard-compound MICHELIN Power Slicks front and rear.

As his times improved during the early stages, he succeeded in pulling practically three seconds clear of the pack – spearheaded by Morbidelli – by the end of the fifth of the afternoon’s 25 laps.

He clocked his best effort (1m39.855s) on Lap 9, but his Michelin tyres helped him to maintain his dominating pace all the way to the finish line which he crossed more than three seconds before Miller.

It was the Portuguese rider’s second success of the season following his BMW M Grand Prix of Styria win at Austria’s Red Bull Ring in August.

Miller, who started third on the grid equipped with medium and symmetric hard MICHELIN Power Slicks front and rear, figured in third place from the start but managed to ease past Morbidelli (same tyre combination as the Australian) on the very last lap to steal second spot. Third was sufficient for the Italian to clinch the 2020 championship’s silver medal, however.

Fourth place was bagged by Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), more than 12 seconds back, while Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) made it four bike brands in the top five.

The Portuguese round marked the final appearances of both Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team). The Briton, who scored three victories with Michelin, has decided to retire from racing but will serve as Yamaha’s test rider in 2021. The Italian, who has harvested 14 of his 15 MotoGPTM wins to date on Michelin rubber, is taking a sabbatical…

The weekend at Portimão, which was added to the calendar because of changes enforced by the Covid-19 pandemic, posed Michelin with another interesting challenge. The French firm’s response was a choice of four different front and rear tyre specifications, although only four of the eight were used on race day when the majority of the field combined the medium front with the symmetric hard rear. Even so, two different pairings finished in the top-three to provide a further illustration of the MICHELIN Power Slick range’s versatility.

The year’s final Riders’ championship standings were topped by Joan Mir (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR) who clinched the title last weekend at Valencia, ahead of Morbidelli and bronze-medallist Alex Rins (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR). Ducati claimed the 2020 Constructors’ crown.

That’s all from us this season. We hoped you enjoyed our coverage of the 2020 MotoGPTM World Championship. Don’t forget to join us when action resumes in Qatar on March 28, 2021!