Oliveira escapes injury after Lecuona crush in Algarve MotoGP

Lecuona was chasing down Oliveira for 10th place in the closing stages of last Sunday’s race when he crashed into the factory KTM rider into Turn 13.

Oliveira took a hefty whack from the Tech3 KTM and both riders got caught in their bikes as they slid through the gravel.

The race was red-flagged on lap 24 of 25 because of the incident, but both riders walked away – though Oliveira did go to hospital for checks.

“After Sunday’s race I went through a medical diagnosis,” Oliveira said.

“Nothing was detected on any of the exams, so this is good. We have to control any symptoms which might come up during the next few days.

“But everything is looking on a positive way. It was a shame, the race was going much better all the other sessions during the weekend.

“I was looking to finish on the top 10 after a really good start. A bit disappointed for the crash, but we move on and hopefully we can have a good final race in Valencia.”

Lecuona explained that he had been struggling to stop the bike throughout the Algarve race, having run off track at several moments on Sunday, and his crash at Turn 13 was a result of him hitting a bump.

“This morning I felt really good, like all the weekend,” Lecuona said after the race on Sunday.

Miguel Oliveira, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Iker Lecuona, KTM Tech3, crash

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“But during the race, I don’t know, I had a lot of problems to stop the bike.

“After 10 laps I started to struggle with the front, I was locking a lot, I saved three, four crashes in corner five, one, 13.

“I struggled a lot with the front tyre. It’s true it’s the first time we do a lot of laps with the hard rear and medium front, the temperature is quite high.

“I struggled, but also I felt confident to fight for the top 10. I lose the opportunity to fight with the top group, but also I know I can do a good result.

“Then with Miguel, we fight a lot, also with Brad [Binder], [Enea] Bastianini.

“I went to overtake him [Oliveira], I hit a small bump and I crashed and my bike hit him. I was with Miguel, I said sorry, he said to me don’t worry.”