Miguel Oliveira scored a surprise victory in the second round of the 2022 MotoGP, winning at Mandalika ahead of Frenchmen Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco. A success achieved in difficult conditions, while the start of the race was delayed by more than an hour due to a storm which dragged on.
Joan Mir, for her part, finished the race in sixth position after delivering a solid performance. The Spanish driver spoke to journalists about his performance afterwards. We transcribe his entire remarks here.
Joan, can you talk about your run to Mandalika?
« I'm happy because I was finally able to find the sensations that allow me to be fast. The only negative thing is that during this race I encountered a lot of problems slowing down the bike. I think in turn 10 typically I went wide most of the time, so it wasn't ideal. But we still have to be happy because we did very good first laps, and it's a shame that the race was reduced to around twenty loops, because I think I could show a very good pace at the end. »
Do you think you would have had such a good race if it hadn't rained today?
« During the warm up I must say that we made really good progress, although we were still in difficulty in the fourth sector. I think, however, that it would have been very difficult indeed to finish in sixth position in dry conditions. »
Do you think it would have been safe to race if the event had taken place in dry conditions? Portions of the track were disintegrating and lots of small stones could have been thrown…
« I think the problem with the asphalt would have been worse on the dry in fact. Already in the wet at the end of the race we could see holes in the tarmac, especially in the last turn. I can't imagine what that would have been like in the dry.
»
Did anything in particular happen during the Moto3 race to cause Moto2 and MotoGP to see their respective events reduced in terms of distance?
« It was a surprise for me, and I realized at the last moment that our race was only going to last 20 laps. Same thing for Moto2 where I realized in the middle of the race that the number of laps had been reduced. This decision to reduce the race distance was taken due to the condition of the track in the last corner, where there were plenty of holes in the tarmac. »
