Montmelo (Spain), June 15 (IANS): Mahindra Racing rider Miguel Oliveira added to his points score at the Moto3 Catalan Grand Prix with a fighting 12th place finish while teammate Arthur Sissis ended 18th, just three places away from points.
Meanwhile, Honda's Alex Marquez won the second race of his Moto3 career by coming out first in the 22-lap GP at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Interestingly, his elder brother won the MotoGP race later in the day.
Mahindra had hoped for a better finish after Oliveira qualified a strong seventh. But his difficulties began on Lap 1 when he was boxed off the start, losing a number of positions to finish the lap in 13th.
The Portuguese teenager, however, held his own in the volatile gaggle of riders and was almost alongside the group leader over the line, by when they had caught up the battle for ninth but eventually finishing 12th.
Australian Sissis had a hill to climb after qualifying 27th tried to make the most of it. He picked up places and finally finished 18th.
"A pretty hard race. We put in a new engine today and the settings weren’t perfect. I was losing a lot in acceleration, especially in first gear. That made it tough off the line and in the fighting. I’m not happy with my result," said Oliveira.