KTM Factory Racing's Miguel Oliveira won a rain-soaked and chaotic Indonesian GP, crossing the finish line about 2.2secs ahead of 2021 World Champion Fabio Quartararo.
- Johan Zarco finishes third
- Marquez misses race after suffering concussion
Delayed start
After years of waiting and preparation, MotoGP's return to Indonesia was highly anticipated, but the weather gods had other plans. Right before the race was about to begin, the Mandalika International Street Circuit was inundated with a heavy downpour, delaying the start by over an hour. In fact, drama had begun much before this as Repsol Honda's Marc Marquez suffered a spectacular high side during warm up and had to sit out the race due to a concussion.
Race begins
Soon after the rain abated, the riders lined up on the grid and the race began. As the lights went out, polesitter Quartararo made a good start to lead the field. Oliveira, however, made a super quick start and rose from P7 to P2, with Jack Miller on the Factory Ducati slotting behind them on Lap 1.
On Lap 2, Oliveira and Miller managed to pass Quartararo, who seemed to struggle to come to grips with the wet conditions. From then on, the duo battled for the lead as the rest of the field played catch up.
Oliveira made a brilliant move on Miller on Lap 6 and took the lead. The KTM Factory Rider was in his element as he began to pull away. Behind him, there were a number of riders who were being caught out in the rain, some managing to save themselves from sliding and crashing.
Towards the end of the race, Quartararo began to reel in the leading pack, overtaking Miller to grab P2. French rider Johan Zarco on the Pramac Ducati also managed to get past Miller to secure P3. In the final few laps, Quartararo was flying and it looked like he'd challenge Oliveira for the win. But Oliveira responded by upping his pace to comfortably grab victory.
2022 MotoGP championship
At the end of Round 2, Enea Bastianini leads the 2022 MotoGP World Championship with 30 points. KTM Factory Racing's Brad Binder is second with 28 points followed by Quartararo at 27 points.
2022 Indonesian MotoGP results
Unnatee Gidithuri
