Miguel Oliveira has credited his blinding start – in which he launched from seventh to second – as being “crucial” to victory in a sodden Indonesian Grand Prix.
The KTM rider managed to score his fourth career MotoGP win in dominant style after taking the leadership away from Ducati’s Jack Miller at around a quarter’s-distance of the shortened 20 lap sprint around the Mandalika International Circuit, the Portuguese pilot having put himself in position to lead from the front thanks to his lightning getaway.
Oliveira explained after the race that he believed his start was a “key” ingredient to his recipe for success due to the “incredibly poor” visibility while running in heavy traffic, allowing him to run to his own rhythm and work out his riding references without “taking too much risk.”
“I think it (fast start) was crucial, I think without that and I don’t know where we would’ve ended up because the visibility was incredibly poor and I could not see a thing, even when I was on my own it was like I needed a screen wiper because I just couldn’t see anything,” explained Oliveira.
“I had an idea where I could put the wheels, and the rear lights of the other bikes could show us where we were so it was really difficult so I just wanted to get up in front of Jack (Miller) because it was that difficult to see.
“The start was of course crucial, and then to keep the bike at the limit and keep hitting my marks and doing the same lap-time was key to the race.
“I was afraid my tyres would overheat by the end and I wouldn’t have the margin to push again, but fortunately I had enough of a gap to Fabio (Quartararo) so it was perfect.
“To be honest it was nice to have Jack for a couple of laps so I could build my braking reference, Jack was braking a little bit later than me so I understood immediately how far I could go without taking too much risk without running wide.
Then it was just about managing the rear (tyre) a bit, the bike was set-up perfectly for the conditions, it felt good on the not-so-wet track (Friday practice) so the team did an amazing job to give me the bike I had today.”
Oliveira added that he felt he “needed a good result” coming to Indonesia following a tough second half of the 2021 season as well as a sub-par showing in the season opening Qatar GP, in which he struggled for outright speed before crashing out early as team-mate Brad Binder fought eventual race winner Enea Bastianini en-route to second.
“I felt strong in the dry but it was unknown territory for everyone, the race is physical and the tyres are trickier for everyone so it was something we would have had to discover but I felt good in all conditions,” continued Oliveira.
“I needed a result, even just a top ten because in Qatar I was not there to do that, especially starting 14th there way back so I just wanted to start the season with a decent result and build up from there but when you are so close to the front and see the chance to win, I didn’t hold back.
“That’s my mentality moving forwards, I want to build up good results for the team and take the advantage that these first two races were up and down for everyone, we’ll try and position ourselves well and see what we can for the rest of the season.”
