I knew Sandy was the man for the job
It could well have been fuel surge if you were lowish on fuel, at least the GTA can sometimes go into a limp home mode temporarily when this happens.
If it was oil surge I think you would have got a low oil pressure light, although this can occur too if the engine stalls while moving I think.
I would have half thought that relative sludgyness (okay okay, higher viscosity if you want me to be PC
) of diesel might have helped a little over petrol.
Cheers,
TB