Olive believes collision cost him Qatar victory

One of the outstanding riders in Qatar, Joan Olive had an eventful race at the opening round of the 125cc World Championship season.

The Spaniard finished in second place in the first ever night Grand Prix, but had to produce one of the best saves likely to be seen all season to stay onboard his Belson Derbi machine two laps before the chequered flag. Olive was hit from behind by Italian rider Raffaele De Rosa, and although he was able to maintain his balance, the Spaniard believes that it was this incident that possibly cost him victory at the Losail International Circuit.

`I tried to break away, but it wasn´t possible´, explained Olive after the race. `De Rosa hit me and I had to leave the racing line, which lost me ground. I tried to catch Gadea on the last lap, but he was giving it his all and had a sufficient gap to take the win.´

`It wasn´t possible to win this time, but the important thing is that I felt good with the bike. I could have taken victory if I hadn't have had the collision,´ he concluded, reflecting on the sixth podium of his career.