The Grand Prix, delayed by an hour and a quarter due to heavy rain on the island of Lombok, took place without Spaniard Marc Marquez, six-time MotoGP champion, who suffered a concussion after a violent fall warming up a few hours earlier.

Starting 7th on the grid, Oliveira won his fourth victory in the top flight, after two successes in 2020 and one in 2021.

"The last few months have not been easy, so to come back like this, with this incredible victory, is a lot of emotion," said the 27-year-old driver.

He had not entered the Top 10 since June 2021 and remained on retirement.

In the championship, Enea Bastianini (Ducati-Gresini) remains the leader with 30 points after his surprise victory in Qatar two weeks ago and despite an 11th place on Sunday.

Brad Binder (KTM) is 2nd in this classification by two points, while Quartararo returns to 3rd place after his disappointing 8th place in Qatar.

Fabio Quartararo riding his Yamaha during free practice for the Indonesian MotoGP GP on March 18, 2022 at the Mandalika circuit SONNY TUMBELAKA AFP

The layout of Mandalika, with a straight line of "only" 507 meters, suited the Frenchman and Yamaha more.

He suffered from a serious lack of speed in Qatar where the longest straight is twice the distance.

Even though he hasn't won since August 29, 2021 in Great Britain, the 22-year-old defending champion celebrated his 2nd place as a victory.

Starting from pole position, he had lost four places before getting back on the podium.

"I know my potential when it's completely wet, and today I did better than I could have hoped for, these are super important points, I think it's my first podium on a completely wet track", reacted Quartararo, all smiles.

The 2021 vice-champion, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), finished 15th and is in 20th place in the championship after his retirement in Qatar.

Score again on the ground

Johann Zarco riding his Ducati-Pramac during free practice for the MotoGP Grand Prix of Indonesia on March 18, 2022 at the Mandalika circuit BAY ISMOYO AFP

Because of the heavy rain, the start was finally given at 4:15 p.m. local time (9:15 a.m. French) instead of 8:00 a.m.

Perhaps thanks to the intervention of a shaman responsible for stopping the rain...

The 62,923 spectators and President Joko Widodo, a motorcycle fan present at the circuit, were treated to their race, the first in 25 years in this country of more than 270 million inhabitants, including a large community of motorcycle racing fans. .

The world championship had already come in 1996 and 1997, near Jakarta, when the top class was the 500 cc, but never since the establishment of MotoGP in 2002 and the arrival of 1000 cc displacements.

This Grand Prix has also been shortened, from 27 to 20 circuit laps (4.3 km), "for safety reasons due to high temperatures", according to Franco Uncini, FIM Grand Prix safety manager.

Faced with the expected damp heat, the tire supplier Michelin had supplied other tyres.

But since the first free practice on Friday, several drivers have crashed, complaining in particular about these tires.

For Marquez, the fourth fall of the weekend (one Friday, two Saturdays) was too many, during the warm-up on Sunday, a few hours before the race.

He went into a glide at turn 7, after losing control of the rear of his bike, at the end of the "warm-up".

The Spaniard got up by his own means but he was very dizzy after this fall at around 180 km / h and was evacuated by helicopter to a hospital.

Nothing was broken, but he stopped the charges anyway.

Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) in the pits during a practice session for the MotoGP Indonesian Grand Prix on March 18, 2022 at the Mandalika circuit SONNY TUMBELAKA AFP

You have to be very "cautious when you have a shock to the head", explained Alberto Puig, sporting director of Honda, to the microphones of the televisions.

Marquez, 29, broke his right arm during the first GP 020, depriving him of the whole season.

He had gradually returned but at the end of 2021, a new fall in training, in motocross, had deprived him of the last two races of the year, due to a diplopia problem (doubling of vision).

© 2022 AFP