STEPPING UP? For BMW, Oliveira really stepped-up at Portimao and perhaps there was some expectation that he would, at Assen, further erase the horror of his Phillip Island performance but it wasn’ t to be. Round Three was a major disappointment. Recovering well from a poor thirteenth place qualifying result, he took out seventh in Race One but it was all downhill from there. Twelfth place in the sprint race meant no improvement to his grid position for Race Two, and he was unable to make significant progress in the race, finishing thirteenth. His points haul of thirteen from the weekend doesn’ t sound great but, here’ s the thing, inconsistent performances from just about everyone other than Bulega, Lecuona and Sam Lowes means that Oliveira currently sits in fourth place in the championship table when you’ d expect his so-so results in two of the three rounds would have left him well adrift of the top end of the table. Oliveira’ s teammate, Petrucci, came out of the weekend, rueing what might have, or should have, been. Fourth place in qualifying was a great foundation but it all went pear-
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