MotoGP Indonesian GP: Marini crushes lap record to take pole, Bagnaia 13th

Luca Marini smashed the lap record at the Mandalika Circuit to claim pole position for MotoGP Indonesian Grand Prix, while points leader Francesco Bagnaia struggled to 13th.

Having already set a new circuit record to get through Q1, VR46 rider Marini found yet more time in the final segment of qualifying as he became the first rider to break the 1m30s barrier with a time of 1m29.978s.

He beat Aprilia duo Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro, both of whom having been rapid all weekend on the factory RS-GP.

The two Aprilia riders were quick from the very beginning in Q2, with Vinales laying the first proper marker with a 1m30.598s before Espargaro went even quicker with a 1m30.501s.

When the second set of runs began, Espargaro posted a rapid time of 1m30.303s - fractionally quicker than Marini’s Q1 benchmark - before Vinales further showcased the pace of the Aprilia with a 1m30.009s.

But with just over two minutes left in the session, Marini ended the party of the Noale-based manufacturer, scoring his maiden premier class pole with the first-ever 1m29s lap at Mandalika.

Vinales was unable to go any faster at the end of the session and settled for second, while Espargaro solidified third position after improving to a 1m30.132s.

Fabio Quartararo took the best-of-the-rest spot in fourth on the factory Yamaha, albeit over half a second off pole, with Brad Binder another two tenths behind on the fastest KTM.

Pramac’s Jorge Martin, who goes into today’s sprint just three points behind Bagnaia, was unable to capitalise on his championship rival’s troubles and qualified a distant sixth, 0.764s off the pace.

Martin suffered a crash just four minutes in the session at Turn 16 and had to mount on his second bike, with his best effort of 1m30.742s only good enough for a spot on the outside of the second row.

Fabio di Giannantonio qualified a solid seventh on the sole remaining Gresini bike ahead of Honda’s Marc Marquez, the rider who will replace him at the satellite Ducati team in 2024.

Marquez qualified almost nine tenths off the pace, just beating the VR46 Ducati of Marco Bezzecchi, who also suffered an early crash on his first Q2 run.

KTM’s Jack Miller, returning Enea Bastianini on the Ducati and RNF Aprilia rider Miguel Oliveira rounded out the top 12.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Bagnaia will line up 13th on the grid, his worst starting position since Portugal last year when he crashed in Q1, after failing to progress into the second leg of qualifying.

The Ducati rider set a lap time of 1m30.626s on his second run, which provisionally put him second behind Marini, but he was knocked out by a late effort from team-mate Bastianinni.

Missing out on a Q2 spot by 0.099s, the Italian will head the fifth row of the grid, where he will be joined by Pramac’s Johann Zarco and the Yamaha of Franco Morbidelli.

Zarco narrowly beat Morbidelli for 14th despite suffering a crash at Turn 11 in the final minute of Q1.

Tech3 duo Pol Espargaro and Augusto Fernandez will start 16th and 18th respectively, separated by the RNF Aprilia of Raul Fernandez, while the field will be propped up by three Hondas, the factory RC213V of Joan Mir and the satellite bikes of LCR team-mates Takaaki Nakagami and Alex Rins.

MotoGP Indonesian GP - Qualifying results:

Q2 results:

Driver Info

Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	L. Marini Team VR46	10	Ducati	5	1'29.978		172.442	313
2	M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team	12	Aprilia	8	+0.031	0.031	172.382	314
3	A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team	41	Aprilia	9	+0.154	0.123	172.147	313
4	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20	Yamaha	9	+0.538	0.384	171.417	313
5	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33	KTM	9	+0.720	0.182	171.073	315
6	J. Martin Pramac Racing	89	Ducati	7	+0.764	0.044	170.990	316
7	F. Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing	49	Ducati	9	+0.788	0.024	170.945	310
8	M. Marquez Repsol Honda Team	93	Honda	7	+0.886	0.098	170.760	313
9	M. Bezzecchi Team VR46	72	Ducati	6	+0.930	0.044	170.678	314
10	J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	43	KTM	8	+0.992	0.062	170.561	313
11	E. Bastianini Ducati Team	23	Ducati	7	+1.083	0.091	170.391	313
12	M. Oliveira RNF Racing	88	Aprilia	8	+1.215	0.132	170.144	315
View full results

Q1 results:

Driver Info

Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	L. Marini Team VR46	10	Ducati	9	1'30.383		171.669	314
2	E. Bastianini Ducati Team	23	Ducati	9	+0.144	0.144	171.396	313
3	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	1	Ducati	9	+0.243	0.099	171.209	316
4	J. Zarco Pramac Racing	5	Ducati	6	+0.330	0.087	171.044	316
5	F. Morbidelli Yamaha Factory Racing	21	Yamaha	9	+0.346	0.016	171.014	311
6	P. Espargaro Tech 3	44	KTM	9	+0.623	0.277	170.494	314
7	R. Fernández RNF Racing	25	Aprilia	9	+0.648	0.025	170.447	311
8	A. Fernandez Tech 3	37	KTM	9	+0.651	0.003	170.441	311
9	J. Mir Repsol Honda Team	36	Honda	9	+0.760	0.109	170.237	312
10	T. Nakagami Team LCR	30	Honda	9	+0.809	0.049	170.146	309
11	A. Rins Team LCR	42	Honda	9	+1.075	0.266	169.651	307
View full results