MotoGP Indonesian GP: Francesco Bagnaia Wins in Indonesia from Thirteenth as Martin Crashes from the Lead

Francesco Bagnaia of Ducati, despite starting from the 13th spot on the grid, managed to win the Indonesian Grand Prix. After the previous race leader, Jorge Martin of Pramac, crashed, this victory put him back atop the MotoGP point standings. After dominating in a sprint race on Saturday, Jorge Martin held a seven-point lead over Bagnaia and looked poised to increase that margin in Sunday's race. Three seconds ahead after moving up from sixth on the grid, Martin lost control of his Pramac Ducati on the 13th lap of the 27-lap race and crashed at Turn 11. After Martin went down, Aprilia's Maverick Vinales grabbed the lead. However, Bagnaia, who had moved up from 13th to third in the opening three laps, steadily closed up and passed Vinales to claim victory. After narrowing the distance on Bagnaia on the final lap, Vinales held on to second place, while Fabio Quartararo, riding a factory Yamaha, came in third. Bagnaia extended his championship lead to 18 points heading into next week's Australian Grand Prix. 

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MotoGP Indonesian GP: Mandalika Circuit Race Result

Vinales, who lost a lot of ground in the Sprint race owing to tyre blistering, was the only Aprilia rider to keep on the medium rear tyre. His teammate Espargaro, on the other hand, fell to a lower position in the standings as his bet on the soft tyre failed. While most riders stuck with their preference for soft front tyres, Vinales and Bagnaia went with the medium and hard options, respectively.

The momentum shifts again!!!

Never EVER rule anything out in this sport! #IndonesianGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/iMmkpaIxLP

— MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) October 15, 2023

Luca Marini, who started on the pole for his first race and finished second in the Sprint, was initially vying with Quartararo for third place. However, Brad Binder knocked him off the track, forcing him to get back at the tail of the pack and complete a long-lap penalty before he could retire. Binder earned a long-lap penalty for initiating the incident involving Luca Marini during the race when he collided with Aleix Espargaro. Binder overcame these obstacles to place sixth, just behind the injured Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio di Giannantonio of Gresini Ducati, who finished in a career-best fourth place. Due to the difficult course conditions, seven riders, including Jorge Martin, did not cross the finish line.

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Marc Marquez of Repsol Honda also failed to finish both races this weekend. Turn 13 was the location of his race-ending crash. For causing a collision in Turn 1 of the Catalunya circuit earlier in the race, Enea Bastianini was also given a long-lap penalty, which he had to serve late in the race.

MotoGP Indonesian GP: Seven DNF in Indonesia

In his first Grand Prix race back after breaking his leg at Mugello in June, LCR Honda's Alex Rins finished tenth. Only 14 riders finished the entire attritional race, with Yamaha's Franco Morbidelli finishing many laps behind the leaders.

Several more riders, including Jorge Martin and Luca Marini, crashed during the race. Teammate Johann Zarco from Pramac, as well as factory Honda riders Marc Marquez and Joan Mir, were among these. Both Augusto Fernandez and Pol Espargaro, riders for the Tech3 GasGas team, had incidents that forced them to retire from the race.