Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia battled from 13th on the grid to win a thrilling Indonesia Grand Prix in Mandalika, as he reclaimed the lead in the riders’ championship after Jorge Martín crashed out at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit on the island of Lombok.
Bagnaia, the defending champion, crossed the line 0.306sec ahead of Aprilia’s Maverick Viñales in second, while Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo, the 2021 world champion, finished third.
“I think we deserved a race like this. I just tried to do the maximum I could in the first few laps,” said Bagnaia, who started in 13th after failing to qualify from Q1 in Saturday’s qualifying session. “I tried to take care of the tyres, then in the last laps I was a little out of pace, so I was controlling a lot.”
Bagnaia is back on top of the riders’ standings with 346 points, with Martín (328) in second and VR46 Racing’s Marco Bezzecchi (283) in third.
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Pramac Racing’s Martín, who took the championship lead on Saturday after winning the sprint, started from the second row in sixth place but did not stay there long, rocketing off the line in hot conditions to take the lead after the very first turn.
But, with the Spaniard cruising with a comfortable lead of more than two seconds, his bike went from under him and he was dumped in the gravel, leaving him holding his head in his hands in disbelief at spurning the opportunity. Pramac Racing had a day to forget, with Johann Zarco also crashing out to compound their misery.
After Martín crashed, Viñales was briefly in the lead but Bagnaia kept up his aggressive riding, slowly and steadily gaining ground on the Aprilia rider before blowing past him in the 20th lap.
“I was running so well, I was trying to control the tyres and Pecco was just a little bit faster than I was,” Viñales said. “I knew from yesterday that if I push and push, my rear tyre would be done, so I tried to control it a bit.”
Viñales and Quartararo were locked in an intense duel for third place for much of the final portion of the race, but the Spaniard clung on for a second-placed finish.
“It was frustrating. I know my speed. We know what we missed, it’s really frustrating when you know what you’re capable of,” Quartararo said.
Gresini’s Fabio Di Giannantonio was fourth and Bezzecchi, racing just days after undergoing surgery on a broken collarbone, ended in fifth, ahead of the Red Bull KTM duo, Brad Binder and Jack Miller.
Luca Marini, who had been on pole, crashed out early on after a collision with Binder, while Marc Márquez, Honda’s six-times MotoGP world champion who confirmed earlier this week that he will be joining Gresini Racing for the 2024 season, also failed to finish.
