A distraught Miguel Oliveira insists that Turn 3 was “the wrong place” for Marc Marquez to attempt a move at that point in the Portuguese Grand Prix.
The RNF Aprilia pilot led the opening tour of his home contest having made a blistering start from fourth on the grid, though was relegated to second by eventual race winner Francesco Bagnaia on the run to Turn 1 at the start of the second lap.
His hopes of fighting for a second win at the Algarve International Circuit were then swiftly ended after being harpooned by an out-of-control Marquez at the third turn just moments later, the Honda racer having clipped Jorge Martin after braking too late on entry and then clattering heavily into the side of Oliveira.
The smash eliminated both Marquez and Oliveira on the spot, with the former picking up a fractured right hand while the latter fortunately walked away without serious injury.
A disappointed Oliveira rued that it was “very sad to finish the home GP like this” after emerging from the medical centre, adding that he was unhappy with Marquez for attempting a move of that nature at Turn 3, saying it was “the wrong place to do it.”
“It was very sad to finish the home GP like this having done only two laps in a clash incident like this, I’m really sorry that things went like that,” explained Oliveira.
“I tried to improve my start from yesterday, which I did, and I was really calm and motivated about the race because I knew I had the pace to be challenging for the top five positions.
“Since Saturday my worst place was sixth in the warm-up so I was pretty competitive so it is a shame to end the race like this, and it’s also a shame that Marc (Marquez) got hurt but he was braking too late and too optimistically making the pass.
“He had to avoid (Jorge) Martin because he was not going to stop enough, then he crashed into me because he couldn’t avoid me.
“There are no incidents happening on purpose this is clear, in the first couple of laps he wanted to gain positions and I think it was the wrong place to do it.”
Oliveira revealed that Marquez apologised to him after meeting in the medical centre shortly after the incident having felt he had a brake issue, though was critical of his decision to ride in such an aggressive manner if he felt his brakes were not up to snuff.
“We met in the medical centre, he said he thought he may have had a problem on his brakes so there’s not much I could say at that moment,” added Oliveira.
“Of course there is respect and obviously the apology is accepted but at the same time if we have a problem with brakes on these bikes we brake a little earlier rather than try to overtake, so this is the main thing.”
