A damaging tangle at Dutch MotoGP likened to “your typical traffic light incident”

Miguel Oliveira was caught up in “your typical traffic light incident” during the opening lap of Sunday’s Dutch MotoGP at Assen.

Joining his Yamaha colleagues in a special red-and-white livery to celebrate the factory 70th anniversary, Oliveira was confident of building on a twelfth place in the Sprint.

But after gaining several positions from 17th on the grid, the Portuguese rider became tangled in a first-lap “traffic jam” at the Turn 5 hairpin.

A sudden slowdown by riders ahead saw Oliveira make contact with Pramac team-mate Jack Miller's rear wheel, which bounced him into Ai Ogura, on the outside.

That pushed both riders off track, breaking Oliveira‘s front fairing and bending his handlebar.

After returning to the pits to replace the fairing, Oliveira rejoined the race a lap down but was forced to retire due to the damage.

“Simple and frustrating, it was your typical traffic light incident,” Oliveira said.

“I had another good start, immediately gained three positions, and everything was going smoothly. 

"But at Turn 5, Zarco dived inside, right behind two other riders, and Jack was behind them, braking at the exact moment I was opening the throttle.

“In that instant, I clipped his rear tyre and was nearly thrown off the bike. Luckily, Ogura was there and basically held me upright.

“We both went off track, he crashed, I managed to rejoin the race, but my front fairing was broken, and the handlebar was bent.”

Oliveira returned to the pits for a new fairing and rejoined the race a lap down, in case of a red flag. However, he was ultimately forced to retire at the end of lap 8 due to the damaged handlebar.

“I still tried to carry on; I stopped to change the fairing and got back on track, hoping for a red flag, but after a few laps, I had to retire.

“It‘s a shame because I really believed today could‘ve been a strong race, possibly inside the top ten, but we‘ll never know. In the end, we leave the weekend with no points, and that‘s the reality.”

Oliveira will now take part in a private test at Brno as Yamaha continues development of the M1, which qualified on pole with Fabio Quartararo, who was left tenth in the grand prix.

“Now, we head to Brno for two days of testing - let‘s see if we can continue to take steps forward," said team director Gino Borsoi. 

"Race pace is one of the main areas we‘re focusing on. We have some ideas we‘re working on, and I hope we‘ll start to see the results soon."

Meanwhile, Miller, who finished 14th, now travels to Japan to begin preparations for next month’s Suzuka 8 Hours.

Round eleven of the 2025 MotoGP season takes place at the Sachsenring, Germany, on July 11-13.