Indonesian MotoGP Race Results | Oliveira untouchable to win in soggy Mandalika

Miguel Oliveira returned to the top of the MotoGP podium in fine style with a commanding demonstration of wet weather riding to dominate the Indonesia MotoGP at a sodden Mandalika Circuit.

A race delayed by more than an hour after heavy tropical showers made the conditions too treacherous, once underway Oliveira didn’t waste time hauling himself up to the front early on before prevailing in a battle with Jack Miller to stream away to the flag.

Consolidating a brilliant start to the season for a KTM team that looked to be struggling during pre-season testing, Oliveira’s win comes after team-mate Brad Binder claimed a surprise podium in the Qatar opener.

While track conditions had improved notably before lights out some 1hr 15mins after the race was due to get underway and continued to do so as the shortened 20 lap race unfolded, it remained damp throughout with several tricky standing water patches to contend with on a number of corners.

Despite this, the riders negotiated the opening turns gingerly but successfully, led initially by pole man Fabio Quartararo before Oliveira - up from seventh to second through the opening turns - got a run on the Frenchman exiting the final corner for the first time.

He didn’t hold the lead for long though with renowned wet weather specialist making his pitch for glory by scything through at Turn 10, as he, Oliveira and Quartararo quickly put air to a chasing pack led by Alex Rins, Johann Zarco and the fast-starting Joan Mir, up from 17th.

However, with Quartararo making a mistake on lap three to slip into the clutches of Rins, the breathing room allowed Oliveira to bide his time behind Miller with the benefit of using him as a reference point in the tricky conditions.

Building in confidence as the pair continued to pull away from the rest of the field, Oliveira slipped back into the lead on lap five at Turn 12. Getting the hammer down, Oliveira quickly multiplied his advantage over Miller to as much as 4.5secs, a buffer he’d protected to the finish line as he reeled off a fourth career MotoGP win.

Indeed, with Oliveira long gone out front, an engrossing fight for second position was the focus as Miller became sucked back into the chasing pack, led still by Rins before Zarco moved through into third on lap 11.

However, while the Pramac Ducati rider was quickly onto the tail of Miller, some staunch defence from the Australian repelled him long enough to allow Quartararo - who was lucky to still be in the race as one of several riders to almost lose the bike by wandering onto the slippery final corner kerb - back into equation having also dispatched of a fading Rins.

If Zarco was hesitating to pass Miller, Quartararo wasted no time in pouncing once he’d caught the pair, nosing ahead of his countryman on lap 15 despite almost bashing fairings at Turn 1. He’d take just another lap to get the better of Miller too, Quartararo going on the secure a satisfying second having seemingly now found his form in the wet on the Yamaha.

Spurred on by his fellow Frenchman’s progress, Zarco eventually got the better of his counterpart when Miller out-braked himself on lap 17, the pair coming home in that order to save some face for Ducati on an otherwise difficult day for the pre-season title favourites.

After his early rally, Rins settled into a distant fifth by the flag, tailed by Suzuki team-mate Joan Mir, who made little impact once he had made up a mammoth 11 positions over the opening lap.

Franco Morbidelli came home a lonely but safe seventh after avoiding getting involved in Jorge Martin’s crash on lap eight. 

The Spaniard had been making up ground following a bad start and a wild moment on the kerbs when he braked on a wet patch as he was completing a move on Morbidelli for seventh. The ensuing front-end fold would subsequently consign himself to the gravel trap for the second race in a row.

Things weren’t much better for Ducati’s Italian hopes either with Pecco Bagnaia making little headway from an early slip to ninth before dropping back significantly in the closing stages to finish a lowly 15th.

Enea Bastianini battles back as Darryn Binder stars

Championship leader Enea Bastianini looked to be heading for a similar result too as the Qatar winner suffered for his and Gresini Racing’s limited wet weather experience initially by plummeting from fifth to 23rd at one stage.

However, the Italian regrouped and proceeded to launch a stunning fightback that got him right into the heart of an enthralling battle for eighth position, a tussle that saw every rider down to 15th jostling for position in a tight group right up to the flag.

Brad Binder eventually won out but his efforts were overshadowed by the performance of his brother Darryn Binder, who put any doubts over whether he deserves to be racing in MotoGP firmly to bed with a stunning ride that saw him claw his way up the order to as high as eighth at one stage.

Ironically it was his brother that would scupper a better result for the rookie though after boisterous pass on the penultimate lap unsettled him back to what remains a hugely impressive tenth place finish - behind Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro - in only his second MotoGP start

Bastianini crossed the line 11th after also getting a bit beaten up in the Binder battle, the Italian retaining the championship lead by two points over Binder, while Quartararo and Oliveira are now just three and five points down overall too.

Honda’s trying weekend came to a similarly damp conclusion with Pol Espargaro and Alex Marquez coming home 12th and 13th respectively, the pair flying the flag for the firm after Marc Marquez was ruled out due to a concussion sustained in a mammoth accident during warm-up.

Behind final point-scorers Luca Marini and Bagnaia, Maverick Vinales was 16th, ahead of next best rookie after Binder, Raul Fernandez, with Fabio di Giannantonio, Takaaki Nakagami, Marco Bezzecchi and Remy Gardner.

A race of low attrition despite the conditions, only Andrea Dovizioso joined Martin on the retirements’ list after stopping with technical issues on his RNF Yamaha.

2022 Indonesia MotoGP | Mandalika Street Circuit | Race RESULTS