Oliveira: A bike came out of nowhere…

Miguel Oliveira was surprised and disappointed to be taken out by fellow KTM rider Johann Zarco during the British MotoGP.

The Frenchman launched an ambitious inside lunge to try and snatch twelfth from the Tech3 rookie into the slow 'Loop' left-hander, on lap 9 of 20.

But Oliveira was unaware of the move and the pair collided heavily at the apex, sending them both down and out.

"Well, it was quite clear on the images," said Oliveira. "It was so early in the race I was not expecting a move like that. I couldn't understand who the rider was that hit me.

"When I saw it was Johann I was a bit disappointed because first of all we share the same brand and it's never good for the project when you see two riders coming together like that, especially for those [point scoring] positions.

"I think for the negative period that he is going through now, he was too much optimistic about overtaking there."

Zarco, competing in his first grand prix since the announcement that he will leave the factory KTM team at the end of this season, quickly went to check on Oliveira after the incident.

"He came to apologise. He said he was hoping I would see him," Oliveira explained. "I was doing the corner and I just saw a bike coming out of nowhere.

"He has almost three years of MotoGP experience, is a two-time world champion. He should know better what to do on the bike, where to do and at what time of the race. But mistakes can happen. I'm not standing here like I know everything. He apologised, so we will turn the page and go to the next race."

The FIM Stewards later gave Zarco a three-place grid penalty for the incident, to be served at the next round in Misano.

"It was a shame because I was feeling very good on the bike," Oliveira continued. "We had this small group. I saw that Petrucci was starting to catch Pol [eighth] so I was just there controlling my tyres a little bit.

"I was not expecting at all that someone would overtake me there. It put an end to our strong weekend. I think to fight for a top ten would have been possible and especially to finish in the points. But there is nothing we can do now.

"I'm upset about the result but I know eventually we will get there because our work is very strong and eventually this will be our natural place, inside the top ten.

"I'm just trying to learn as fast as I can how to take the bike to the maximum. There are some things I don’t quite dominate yet like Pol, but I think I will get there."

Oliveira, who took his best MotoGP finish to date with eighth place at the previous Austrian round, is 17th in the world championship, one place and four points ahead of Zarco.

The Frenchman's 2020 replacement is yet to be announced. Oliveira is widely seen as a leading candidate, but both he and the Tech3 team say they have no knowledge of such a team swap at this stage.