Marco Bezzecchi wins in Indonesia, Jorge Martin retakes MotoGP points lead
Marco Bezzecchi scored his first win since May at the Indonesian Grand Prix
Marco Bezzecchi led an Aprilia 1-2-3 to win the MotoGP Indonesian Grand Prix, as third place for Jorge Martin returns him to the lead of the championship standings.
The Italian has endured a tough season since he last won a grand prix ahead of this weekend at Mugello at the end of May.
Crashing out of the sprint on the opening lap after a collision with Raul Fernandez, Marco Bezzecchi overhauled the Trackhouse rider to claim a dominant fifth win of the campaign.
Polesitter Fernandez, carrying a broken finger in his right hand, was second, while Jorge Martin finished a distant third on the second of the factory team Aprilias.
That result returns Martin to the lead of the championship standings, though only by two points after Marc Marquez limited the damage in the race in sixth.
Bezzecchi’s win has given his fading title hopes some life, as he closes his points deficit to 46 with five rounds to go.
Fernandez seized the lead off the line from pole position at the start, after fending off a raid from Bezzecchi at Turn 1.
This pair quickly pulled away, while Marquez’s time in third place was short-lived, with Martin moving up from sixth at on the first lap to the final podium spot on the third tour.
Fernandez put in a heroic early effort to keep Bezzecchi at bay in the lead, but his physical condition began to fade.
On lap 19 of 27, Bezzecchi came through on the brakes into Turn 1 to take a lead he would never lose through to the chequered flag.
Bezzecchi cleared off to a lead of 4.260s to register Italy’s 300th MotoGP victory.
Fernandez was a lonely second at the chequered flag, while Martin completed the podium.
Ai Ogura put on a late charge to fourth to complete Aprilia’s first 1-2-3-4 in MotoGP, after he beat KTM’s Pedro Acosta in the latter stages.
Acosta’s race was complicated by tyre pressure issues, which forced him to cede a position to Marquez on several occasions.
Marc Marquez was sixth for his first grand prix finish at Mandalika, while his younger brother Alex Marquez was seventh on the Gresini Ducati.
Fabio Di Giannantonio faded to eighth from the front row on the VR46 Ducati, while Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo and Tech3 KTM’s Enea Bastianini rounded out the top 10.
Brad Binder was 11th on the sister factory team KTM, while Honda’s Luca Marini, LCR’s Johann Zarco, VR46’s Franco Morbidelli and Yamaha’s Alex Rins completed the points-paying positions.
Pramac’s Toprak Razgatlioglu retired early as he battled pain from his dislocated shoulder.
Pecco Bagnaia crashed out on his Ducati, as did Pramac’s Jack Miller and Gresini’s Fermin Aldeguer.
