“I couldn’t see anything” – Why Oliveira lost Motegi MotoGP top-six finish

Oliveira had been excelling in the wet conditions at Motegi, rising from 16th on the grid to run as high as fourth at one stage after pitting for his wet tyre-shod bike.

The Portuguese rider started to slip backwards, but was still running sixth when he mysteriously pitted at the end of lap 12 of 24, dropping to the tail of the order.

When the race was…