Miguel Oliveira says a gear shift issue was the cause of his slump to 18th in the Australian WorldSBK Superpole Race.
Oliveira was forced to start last in Race 1 and the Superpole Race because he didn’t set a lap in Superpole due to a crash on his first flying lap and a subsequent electronic problem that meant he couldn’t get back out on-track after his bike had been repaired after he’d got it back to the pits.
In Race 1 he successfully recovered to eighth, and in the Superpole Race he was set to gain a top-nine finish that would’ve put him on the front three rows for Race 2.
However, on final lap he dropped to 18th. After Race 2, Oliveira said that a gear shift issue began developing on the penultimate lap of the 10-lapper.
“The Superpole Race was going great,” Oliveira told WorldSBK.com.
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“I made a lot of overtakes to get me a place inside the top-nine.
“But unfortunately the second-last lap I started getting a problem shifting gears and at the beginning of the last lap I could not shift gears anymore due to a small issue in the quick shifter.
“I got stuck in the gear and had to do the whole lap cruising around and trying not to disturb other riders. I crossed the finish line very disappointed, but this afternoon we got another chance to go for points – I did that.”
Despite the setbacks in several important sessions, Oliveira was content to have shown some progress through the weekend on his World Superbike debut
“For sure the progress is there,” he said. “I’ve shown more speed; I’m better with the bike; I’ve ridden probably in every condition now; and I did two different races, a full wet race and a full dry race; I did come from the back of the grid.
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“Now we just need to fix that qualifying, which I’m sure we’ll do it in Portimao, and see what our potential is starting far more up in the front of the grid.”