Martin wins MotoGP Indonesian GP as multiple riders crash out
Jorge Martin dominated the MotoGP Indonesian Grand Prix, extending his championship lead over Francesco Bagnaia, who finished in third place.
In a race with just 12 finishing riders, Martin ensured not to make any errors at the beginning of the race, to build a steady lead from the chasing riders, the Spaniard rewriting the wrongs of Saturday after crashing in the Sprint race.
It would be a chaotic opening lap to the Indonesian Grand Prix, with Bagnaia getting a poor start, losing multiple places at the start of the race. Marco Bezzecchi’s VR46 Racing Ducati machine would have ride height device problems, the Italian also losing a few positions on the run into Turn 1.
Jack Miller would crash at Turn 3 as he flipped his Factory KTM machine over to the fast left-hander. Miller would cause chaos by wiping out Luca Marini, Alex Marquez and Aleix Espargaro, the four of them all immediately retiring from the race.
Enea Bastianini would attempt to close Martin down, relying on his late race pace, however the Italian would quickly be overtaken by Pedro Acosta and slowly sunk back through the field. Meanwhile, his teammate Francesco Bagnaia would be unable to make much progress and sat in sixth place for a number of laps.
Fabio Di Giannantonio and Marc Marquez would fight over sixth place for a while, the pair of them both throwing different shapes and taking different racing lines. However, after Di Giannantonio finally got through on Marquez, the Italian would come crashing down and out of the race at Turn 10.
Problems would also strike Marquez just a few laps later, the Gresini Racing Ducati Desmosedici GP23 coming to a stop with smoke coming out of it. A crucial blow for Marquez, who had closed to 53 points from the championship leader after the Sprint race, but will now sink way further back to 78 points down.
A battle between the VR46 Academy riders would ensue, with Bagnaia managing to eventually find his way through on both Marco Bezzecchi and Franco Morbidelli. However, crucially, Enea Bastianini would crash out of the race at Turn 1 in the late stages, allowing for Pedro Acosta to inherit second place, as Bagnaia would eventually claim the final spot on the podium after a difficult race.
Maverick Vinales would finish as the Top Aprilia rider with a sixth place finish, quickly followed by Fabio Quartararo in seventh, the Frenchman being able to string a nice few races with a decent haul of points over the last few weeks. Johann Zarco would finish as the Top Honda rider with an impressive ninth place finish, with Raul Fernandez, Takaaki Nakagami and Alex Rins rounding out the actual finishing riders.
Jorge Martin would eventually round the final corner to take a dominant victory ahead of the field at a difficult Grand Prix which saw many riders crash. Pedro Acosta would bring his KTM to the chequered flag for an impressive podium finish as Bagnaia would lead the VR46 Academy riders for the final spot on the podium, earning crucial points in the process.
MotoGP returns in just one week, for the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi.
MotoGP Indonesian Grand Prix – Results
1st Jorge Martin, Prima Pramac
2nd Pedro Acosta, Red Bull GasGas KTM
3rd Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati
4th Franco Morbidelli, Prima Pramac
5th Marco Bezzecchi, VR46 Racing
6th Maverick Vinales, Aprilia
7th Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha
8th Brad Binder, Red Bull Factory KTM
9th Johann Zarco, LCR Honda
10th Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Aprilia
11th Takaaki Nakagami, LCR Honda
12th Alex Rins, Yamaha
DNF Enea Bastianini, Ducati
DNF Augusto Fernandez, Red Bull GasGas KTM
DNF Joan Mir, Repsol Honda
DNF Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing
DNF Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing
DNF Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
DNF Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia
DNF Jack Miller, Red Bull Factory KTM
DNF Luca Marini, Repsol Honda
Featured Image: Red Bull Content Pool
