Portuguese teenager Miguel Oliveira claimed a historic high for Team Mahindra securing their first pole of the season in the seventh round of the MGP3O at Assen in the Netherlands on Saturday. In the process, Mahindra became the first Indian team in the four-stroke Moto3 to attain a pole position.
“Yesterday, we had some ideas of how to change the setting of the machine for better handling and direction changes but this morning conditions were very bad so there was no chance to verify them.
“In the afternoon however, they seemed to work. It was a good qualifying and I think we deserved this first pole. The bike is performing very well, with no weak areas. Tomorrow’s race will be very difficult, you never know what can happen in big groups of riders, but I will give it everything I have,” Oliveira said after the qualifying session.
In windy and cool conditions with threat of rain, Oliveira put in a fast lap early on to put his name at the top of the charts anticipating rains later on. However, it remained dry and with 10 minutes remaining, Oliveira was pushed to the fifth position.
But the 18-year-old went out back on track just before end of the qualifying session and put up a blazing final run that saw him back on the top. This is the first time that Oliveira has taken the top position in qualifying in his racing career. His previous best was when he secured the second position at Le Mans earlier this year.
Mahindra had claimed a pole position in 2011 when Danny Webb put their 125cc two-stoke bike in the first position in qualifying at Valencia. Oliveira’s teammate Efrén Vázquez qualified 17th.