Miguel Oliveira dominates Indonesian MotoGP in horrendously wet conditions
The race was seriously close to be cancelled due to torrential rain after Marc Marquez had already been ruled out after a shocking crash during the warm-up.
But after a long delay the first-ever race at Mandalika finally got underway with Fabio Quartararo leading into turn one from pole.
As was the case in Qatar, Jorge Martin got a disappointing start as he went from second to sixth in the opening few corners.
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With wet conditions seemingly still a struggle for Quartararo, the world champion split from first to third in a matter of two corners as Oliveira took the lead from Jack Miller.
One of the strongest riders in wet conditions, Miller wasted no time in taking the lead off Oliveira on lap two.
The Ducati rider made a lovely move on the brakes heading into turn ten, while Quartararo came under intense pressure from Alex Rins and Johann Zarco.
Struggling for both outright pace and straight line speed, Quartararo was soon relegated to fifth as Rins and Zarco got through in consecutive corners.
After setting a new fastest lap, Miller started to face pressure from Oliveira who had clear ideas of taking back the lead.
The KTM rider did just that on lap five before gapping the Australian by over a full second in just one lap.
At the start of lap eight a slow moving Andrea Dovizioso had to retire due to a problem with his M1 Yamaha, while Jorge Martin became the first crasher of the race.
The Pramac rider, who was clearly pushing hard in order to try to recover after a poor start, lost the front on the entry to turn one. It’s a fall that leaves the Spaniard with zero points from two races.
As Oliveira continued to set fastest laps, Miller was slowly heading back into the clutches of Rins and Zarco who could smell a first podium of 2022.
However, the first overtake between the trio came from Zarco as he drifted round the outside of Rins, which then led to him being on the inside for turn 12.
With no one left between himself and Miller, Zarco began to quickly reel in the factory Ducati rider.
Behind Miller and Zarco, Rins was dropped to fifth as pole sitter Quartararo began to show impressive late race pace.
With Zarco taking too long to get through on Miller, the two-time Moto2 champion was overtaken by Quartararo for third at turn 15.
Zarco tried to respond at turn one, but as was the case when trying to pass Miller, the 31 year-old ran wide which nearly led to contact as he came back towards the racing line with Quartararo on his inside.
After his move for third, Quartararo wasted no time in picking off Miller’s Ducati for second with four laps to go.
As the Yamaha rider set about closing in race leader Oliveira, Zarco finally made his move on Miller stick for third, however, it was too late for him to try and keep pace with Quartararo.
Meanwhile, Quartararo reduced Oliveira’s lead by two seconds in as many laps, but the KTM rider, who was clearly controlling the pace, responded and therefore kept a comfortable margin until the final lap.
With the top five of Oliveira, Quartararo, Zarco, Miller and Rins remaining unchanged, a six-rider battle was heating up behind Joan Mir, who impressively came from P18 to claim sixth and Franco Morbidelli in seventh.
MotoGP rookie Darryn Binder looked set to hold onto P8 following a stunning battle with championship leader Enea Bastianini on the penultimate lap - the pair exchanged positions on four occasions in five corners, however, it was Darryn’s brother Brad who came through to take eighth from Aleix Espargaro.
Darryn did hold on for a first top ten in MotoGP, while Bastianini was P11 for Gresini Racing Ducati.
