Miguel Oliveira of KTM claims his push to win in the wet MotoGP Indonesian Grand Prix on Sunday was “emotionally a rollercoaster.”
On circuit five of the rain-soaked inaugural MotoGP race at the Mandalika International Street Circuit, the Portuguese rider moved up from eighth on the grid to grab the lead.
Due to bad weather, the race was postponed for well over an hour, and difficulties with the asphalt in the intense heat caused the grand prix to be curtailed from 27 to 20 laps.
Oliveira jumped out to a four-second lead after one stage, holding off a late drive from Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo to take his fourth MotoGP victory.
Oliveira has had a difficult time after his last podium in Germany in July 2021, garnering just 21 points in the preceding 11 races, four fewer than his Indonesia victory.
“I mean, emotionally it was a rollercoaster,” Oliveira said in 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 couple of laps and then I understood I could still go a bit faster, so when I overtook him I just tried to focus on the next five laps and do the maximum that I could.
“Then I built the gap and was just managing throughout the race. But it was not easy, the last couple of months have not been easy for me.
“So, to be back like this with this incredible win is for sure really emotional.
“I promised my daughter I’d get her a trophy from Indonesia.”
Oliveira’s success comes after teammate Brad Binder battled for triumph in the dry and finished second in the opening race in Qatar, while the South African also secured his highest MotoGP qualifying performance of fourth at Mandalika on Saturday.
Despite KTM’s apparent improvement in form at the beginning of 2022, Oliveira is wary of declaring himself and the Austrian marque title contenders at this time.
“I mean I think it’s very early to say because we only had two races,” Oliveira, who started his 50th MotoGP race on Sunday, added.
“For sure, we want to keep this strong condition going into other races as well.
“We don’t just want to perform three times or four times during the season and be average.
“We want to be up there more often, we are aware that we need to work really hard.
“That’s the normal of this category, everyone is so close together and you see the difference sometimes it makes being in the Q2 or not.
“It can turn your whole weekend around. So, we are focusing on being fast first of all and then being consistent in the races and scoring points.”
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