Marc Márquez wins MotoGP Indonesia sprint and takes championship lead from Jorge Martín
Marc Márquez won the Saturday sprint at Mandalika after Raúl Fernández and Marco Bezzecchi crashed at the first corner. Jorge Martín, who led the championship, finished fourth and now trails by four points.
Fernández and Bezzecchi fall at the first corner
Marc Márquez won the MotoGP sprint at the Mandalika circuit in Indonesia on Saturday, ahead of Ai Ogura and Fabio Di Giannantonio. Raúl Fernández had taken pole and was seen as the clear favourite, while the official Aprilia bikes of Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martín were also considered contenders. The race was decided at the first corner. Fernández and Bezzecchi braked late after the long straight out of the start and went down, with Fernández striking Bezzecchi from behind and Bezzecchi forced to lift his bike. Both were out of the race, which left the front of the field to Martín and Márquez.
Martín leads, then fades
According to ABC, Márquez gained ground at the start by passing four bikes in one move on the inside, and Martín led from the first lap. After three laps Martín was about one second ahead of Márquez, and Márquez had to hold second against Ai Ogura, the fourth Aprilia in the leading group. ABC also reported that Márquez had been warned about a possible penalty for exceeding track limits. Five laps from the end, Martín eased his pace and let Márquez through. La Razón considered a warning about low front-tyre pressure the likely reason, since slowing down could avoid a penalty. Martín then made an error, ran wide and dropped to fourth behind Ogura and Di Giannantonio.
- Fernández and Bezzecchi crash at the first corner, leaving Martín and Márquez at the front
- Martín leads Márquez by about one second
- Martín eases his pace and lets Márquez pass
- Martín makes an error and drops to fourth behind Ogura and Di Giannantonio
- Márquez wins the sprint, with Ogura second and Di Giannantonio third
Márquez on the result
Before the sprint, Márquez had joked that if an Aprilia had to win, it should be Fernández, a reference to his fight with Martín and Bezzecchi for the title. After the race he described the sprint as hard from the start.
It has been a very hard race, from the start. When I saw Martín was in first I pushed. I made some mistakes, but I felt better and better each time. I pushed while trying to manage the risk and the distance. These are very important points.
Márquez now leads the championship on his own for the first time, four points ahead of Martín. The result leaves Martín, who had held the lead, in fourth place in the sprint, with the title race now led by the Spaniard from Ducati.
