#IndonesianGP – MOTOGP, SPRINT & RACE – Bezzecchi returns to championship
MOTOGP – SPRINT: Marc Marquez wins dramatic Mandalika Sprint, Martin loses the lead after rollercoaster ride to fourth
Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) takes home gold on Saturday at the Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia, taking the lead in the Championship after a dramatic Tissot Sprint saw early leader Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) drop back, run off and then come home fourth. That was after Turn 1 drama off the start that sidelined Marco Bezzechi (Aprilia Racing) and polesitter Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team), changing the game early on after lights out.
Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) took second on the Sprint podium after escaping the drama early on, with Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) taking third.
LIGHTS OUT, DRAMA ON
There was immediate drama at Turn 1 as Fernandez vs Bezzecchi started as a drag race and then became a crunch, with Marc Marquez and Di Giannantonio both heading up the inside too. The top four all headed slightly wide and then the knock on effect saw Diggia sitting up make Marc Marquez sit up and then Bezzecchi left with nowhere to go, crashing out alongside polesitter Fernandez. Riders ok. As all that was happening, Martin carved around the apex and took the lead, in position to stake a strong claim on the 12 points for the win.
Behind him, Marc Marquez was holding second, with emerging in third ahead of Diggia after the #49 had slotted back in in fourth, defending it from Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP).
DUEL AT THE FRONT?
As the laps ticked down, it seemed a duel at the front as the #93 loomed large behind race leader Martin, but the Aprilia got the hammer down and started to build a gap, well over a second clear. But then drama suddenly as the #89 sat up with 4 laps to go, losing more than two seconds in the lap and watching Marquez take over in the lead.
Meanwhile, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was given a long lap for track limits, dropping him off the back of Diggia, Ogura and the podium fight. Martin slotted back in just ahead of the Japanese rider in that battle, but then the #89 started to reel in Sprint leader Marc Marquez once more. With three to go, the Aprilia was homing in and target locked on the leading Ducati – but he was bringing company.
Suddenly, the pendulum then swung back. As the title gap hovered at a single point, Martin was wide and off the circuit as he was forced into a save at Turn 15 – dropping out of the podium fight and leaving Ogura and Di Giannantonio to chase down the #93. The #89 was back in fourth.
THE LAST PUSH TO THE LINE
The metres were ticking down at the front but Ogura gave it a good run. The #79 halved the gap on the final lap then couldn’t quite make it to striking distance, leaving Marc Marquez to cross the line for his first Sprint win at Mandalika. Ogura’s P2 moves him to within a point of Acosta in fourth in the title fight, with Di Giannantonio completing the Saturday podium.
Then comes Martin. After leading the way and convincingly pulling away, dropping back and then ultimately losing out on the rostrum late on, the gap is now four points – and it’s now in favour of Marc Marquez at the top.
Alex Marquez takes P5 in some fresh air, with Acosta completing the top six after that Long Lap penalty for track limits. Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), the 2025 GP winner here, slots into P7 ahead of Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) and the scorer of the final point: Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP).
MOTOGP – RACE: Bezzecchi beats Fernandez in Mandalika as Martin returns to championship sum
300 MotoGP wins for Italy. A history-making Aprilia top-four lockout. And a first victory since the Italian Grand Prix for Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing). That result, after the drama bubbled over in the Mandalika cauldron on Saturday, was desperately needed as Bezzecchi claws back crucial ground in the championship chase. Second place went to the heroic Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team), who, despite two broken fingers, climbed onto the podium, while Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) pocketed P3 to retake the World Championship lead after Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) came home in P6.
THE START
Unlike in the Tissot Sprint, Turn 1 in the Grand Prix was attacked and negotiated without incident. Bezzecchi lunged up the inside of Fernandez to try and gobble up the holeshot and take the lead, but the Italian was slightly wide on the exit to allow the polesitter back through. Marc Marquez got away well, the Sprint winner was an early P3, with 2025 Indonesia winner Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) getting the better of Martin to grab P5, and then P4 from Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team).
Martin then picked his way past Di Giannantonio to move up to P5, before the fast-starting Aldeguer slipped out of contention at the tricky Turn 16 on Lap 2. That gave Martin a free pass to move into P4, but what wasn’t a free pass was what came half a lap later.
Martin, on the inside of Marc Marquez at Turn 10, fired his Aprilia through to climb ahead of his title rival. It was P3 for Martin now, P4 for Marquez, with Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) now hunting the pre-race World Championship leader. And on Lap 4, Acosta set the fastest lap of the Grand Prix.
ACOSTA VS MM93, BEZ SHADOWS FERNANDEZ
It felt like it had been coming for a couple of laps, and sure enough, Acosta pounced on the championship leader. Teammates next year. No teamwork this year, though. Acosta lunged at Turn 10, super late on the anchors, but boy did he nail the pass. A moment on the front-end came through Turn 11 for Acosta, but the #37 held onto P4 to shuffle Marc Marquez back to P5, and in the clutches of Di Giannantonio.
At the front, Fernandez held Bezzecchi at bay by 0.5s, with Martin lapping 1.9s away from his teammate’s rear Michelin tyre. It was as you were for a few laps before Bezzecchi netted the fastest lap of the Grand Prix, a 1:29.991, to begin adding some pressure to Fernandez. 0.4s was the slender gap, with Martin now 2.5s back.
On Lap 13, Marc Marquez was back ahead of Acosta. From the TV pictures, it looked like Acosta was forced to allow his 2027 teammate through, which seemingly meant tyre pressure problems were arising for the KTM star. Then, two laps later, the switch came at Turn 10. Was Marc Marquez now suffering from tyre pressure problems? Incredible.
BEZ MAKES HIS MOVE AS P4 SCRAP IGNITES
Back at the front. Lap 19 of 27, the lead changed for the first time since Turn 1, Lap 1. Bezzecchi carved his way past Fernandez to snatch the lead from the Trackhouse star, and on that very same lap, the Italian hammered home another fastest lap of the Grand Prix. With Fernandez running a little wide at Turn 1 after the move, Bezzecchi’s lead grew to an immediate 1.4s, with Martin riding in a lonely P3 – 2.4s behind Fernandez, 5.7s clear of the popcorn-consuming fight between Acosta, Marc Marquez, and now Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team).
Sure enough, the Japanese star pounced. Marc Marquez was shoved back to P6 on Lap 21 at Turn 16, as Ogura then set his sights on trying to make a move on Acosta. His teammate wasn’t giving Martin a sniff at P2 a little further up the road; Fernandez was digging in deep to maintain the gap to Martin, as Ogura then clawed his way past Acosta.
Not without a fightback from Acosta though. The KTM star returned the favour into Turn 13, but Ogura got the job done into Turn 16. Both needed to be careful not to beat each other up too much though, because the #93 was lurking.
APRILIA CLINCH HISTORIC 1-2-3-4
Last lap time then in Indonesia. Bezzecchi’s 3.3s lead meant the Italian could cruise to the flag to earn a much-needed victory, his first since Mugello, to keep his slim title hopes well and truly alive.
Chapeau to Fernandez. With not one, but two broken fingers sustained in the Sprint crash yesterday, Fernandez went above and beyond the call of duty to pocket P2 in Indonesia and also extracting the maximum from Sunday was Martin. The championship leader again. Two points the gap. As you were coming into the weekend. Martin’s 16 points were critical in Mandalika. And handing Aprilia their very first MotoGP 1-2-3-4 finish was Ogura, who did manage to fend off Acosta at the end of the Grand Prix. What a day for the Noale factory.
YOUR INDONESIA POINTS SCORERS
Acosta finished just a tenth away from Ogura to bag a hard-fought P5 in Mandalika, and just over a second behind the battle was Marc Marquez. P6 at the flag means the #93 slides back into P2 in the title chase, but the seven-time MotoGP World Champion would have taken a two-point deficit at the beginning of the weekend. Why? Because he’d never even finished a Grand Prix in Indonesia. And such was Aprilia’s superiority here; not losing any ground to Martin signals a job well done ahead of a trip to Phillip Island.
Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Di Giannantonio crossed the line in P7 and P8, with the Italian only just holding off ninth-place Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP). P10 went to Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3), with the other points going to Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in P12, Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) in P13, Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) in P14, and Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) in P15.
It was a very difficult start, like always when you are starting behind many riders. But as the race progressed and the group spread apart, it was better for me. Today I suffered a lot in the slipstream, just like yesterday. My bike felt a little nervous when I was tucked in behind the others. The bike didn’t want to stay on line, and turning was tricky. Plus, we felt the turbulence from the other bikes. We need to study this for Phillip Island. From the middle of the race, it was much better. I came back, was fast and did a good job at the end. I’m not really happy about the result. Next time out the aim will be to qualify much better. Let’s see what we can do in Australia. Enea Bastianini – P10
This weekend was difficult. Today, I tried to finish the race without crashing or making mistakes. I just wanted to finish the weekend. We couldn’t do more than that, but we gave it our best. Now it’s time to rest a bit, and let’s see how things go in Australia! Diogo Moreira – P16
Click the button below to find out all the images of the #KytCrew during the weekend in Indonesia.