Oliveira’s Indonesia MotoGP wins ’emotional rollercoaster’

The Portuguese rider came from 7th place on the grid to take the lead in the fifth round of the rain-hit Maiden MotoGP race at the Mandalika International Street Circuit.

The race was delayed by an hour due to heavy rain, while problems with the asphalt and the extreme temperatures led to the Grand Prix being reduced from 27 to 20 laps.

Once ahead, Oliveira quickly built up a lead of over four seconds through a stage before managing a late charge from Yamaha Fabio Quartararo to claim his fourth win of his MotoGP career.

Oliveira has had a terrible time since his last podium finish in Germany in July 2021, scoring just 21 points in the previous 11 races – four less than he scored with his victory for Indonesia.

“I mean, emotionally, it was a roller coaster ride,” Oliveira said at Parc Ferme.

“The start was perfect but then in the wet it’s so hard to judge where the limit is.

“So, I followed Jack [Miller] for a few laps and then I realized I was going to drive a little faster, so when I took him over, I just tried to focus on the next five laps and do the maximum I could.

“Then I built the gap and just managed to run through the race.

“But it was not easy, the last few months have not been easy for me.

“So to be so back with this incredible victory is certainly really emotional.

“I promised my daughter that I would get her a trophy from Indonesia.”

Oliveira’s victory follows team-mate Brad Binder, who is fighting for victory in the drought and finished second in the opening round in Qatar, while the South African claimed his best MotoGP qualifying result of the fourth Saturday in Mandalika.

Despite KTM’s obvious turnaround in form in early 2022, Oliveira is retaining itself and the Austrian brand is now declaring itself a title contender.

“I think I think it’s too early to tell because we only had two races,” added Oliveira, who started his 50th MotoGP race on Sunday.

“Sure, we want to keep this strong state in other races as well.

“We don’t just want to perform three or four times a season and be average.

We want to be there more often, we are aware that we have to work really hard.

“That’s the norm in this category, everyone’s so close together and you see the difference sometimes it makes to be in Q2 or not.

“It can turn your whole weekend around. So, we focus on being fast first and then being consistent in the races and scoring points.