Mahindra's Miguel Oliveira finishes 8th in Indianapolis Moto3 championship
Miguel Oliveira finished eighth while his Mahindra Racing teammate retired to the pits after minor oil-control issue
- NDTVSports
- Updated: August 19, 2013 06:28 PM IST
Mahindra Racing scored mixed results as the Moto3 championship got back into action at the mighty Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday.
Portuguese teenager Miguel Oliveira finished eighth, matching his qualifying position as he fended off a fierce two-bike attack in the closing corners.
His teammate Efren Vazquez of Spain, who qualified fourth, was off to a strong start until a minor oil-control issue struck his Mahindra MGP3O machine, and he was wisely retired to the pits.
Mahindra Racing CEO Mufaddal Choonia was pleased with Oliveira's effort, but was extremely disappointed with first race retirement in its strong debut season. The only Indian factory machine in the championship has claimed pole and front-row starts, and challenged strongly for the top-three podium in the first eight races of the 17-round season.
"The good news is that it was not a mechanical failure: the engine is quite undamaged," he said.
"It was a very minor issue, but unfortunately in a race a minor issue can cause a major problem," he continued. "Efren decided to stop for safety reasons, which was a good decision. Now we go to the Czech Republic in one week, confident of continuing the strong performance that has us third and close to second in the Constructors Championship," he added.
Oliveira said the team needs to put up a better show. "I am not really happy. Eighth is certainly not our place. But today was very hard - I was struggling a lot for grip from the tyres. As we know, we lose a little acceleration to the KTMs at the moment, and there are two very small first-gear corners on this track, and a long straight. I aimed for a safe race, try not to crash, and get some points. I just tried to defend myself and my position, and that was successful," he said.
Meanwhile, disappointed Vazquez said Mahindra lost the opportunity to finish in top five. "I'm a little bit disappointed because we lost a good opportunity for a top-five result and some good points. If I'd been able to continue in my position to the last laps I would be seventh. I was fighting with the KTMs but then something happened and I thought it was safer to stop," Vazquez said.