MotoGP Indonesian GP: Marquez takes points lead with sprint victory

Marc Marquez took a surprise victory in the dramatic Indonesian Grand Prix sprint race, hitting the front of the MotoGP world championship standings for the first time in 2026.

Jorge Martin only managed fourth on Saturday despite leading most of the race, while fellow Aprilias Raul Fernandez - who started from pole - and Marco Bezzecchi crashed at the first corner.

At Mandalika's Turn 1, it was truly a case of 'four into one doesn't go' but ultimately a racing incident. Knowing they faced a speed deficit to the Aprilias, the Ducatis understood they needed to get their noses ahead at the first corner.

But it wasn't just the factory bike of Marquez who got away well enough to get inside the Aprilias. Fabio Di Giannantonio on the VR46 bike pulled inside the lot of them, grabbing the best position into the opening right-hander.

Next in the line-up under braking was Bezzecchi, with Fernandez on the extreme outside. While there was no contact with the Ducatis, Bezzecchi was off the ideal line and slightly wrong-footed by the two Bologna bikes on his inside. He lost his factory Aprilia all on his own, tagging Fernandez's Trackhouse bike as he went down. 

But there was no investigation given the lack of contact or foul play.

Di Giannantonio lost time through the first corner despite going into it in the best spot, which put Martin into a surprise early lead aboard an Aprilia that hadn't quite been ticking as well for him as the Fernandez and Bezzecchi bikes had. 

Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

The man to emerge from the first turn right behind him was none other than his title rival Marquez, who started the race two points behind Martin and was supposed to be in damage limitation mode at Mandalika.

Martin appeared to take the race by the scruff of the neck when he set fastest lap on lap four to stretch out a 1.4s lead.

But that wasn't the end of the drama, as the Aprilia appeared to let Marquez through into the lead on lap nine. The most likely explanation for this was a tyre pressure warning on Martin's dashboard. 

Once he had settled back into his groove, Martin looked like he might be lining up a late attack on Marquez. But when he ran wide on the penultimate lap, it was clear Marc had the race in the bag.

The mistake cost Martin further points as he dropped behind Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Aprilia) and Di Giannantonio, who spent most of the race shadowing the Japanese rider. 

Alex Marquez finished fifth for Gresini Ducati, with Pedro Acosta coming home sixth after a long lap penalty for exceeding track limits. The latter had run with Ogura and Di Giannantonio until that point.

Last year's winner Fermin Aldeguer was seventh, with Francesco Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo rounding out the points-scorers.

MotoGP Indonesian GP sprint race results

SPRINT

All Stats

 

Cla	Rider	#		Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Retirement	Points
1	M. Marquez Ducati Team	93		Ducati	13	19'37.125		170.9		12
2	A. Ogura Trackhouse Racing Team	79		Aprilia	13	+0.509 19'37.634	0.509	170.9		9
3	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49		Ducati	13	+0.835 19'37.960	0.326	170.8		7
4	J. Martin Aprilia Racing Team	89		Aprilia	13	+1.947 19'39.072	1.112	170.7		6
5	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73		Ducati	13	+3.410 19'40.535	1.463	170.5		5
6	P. Acosta Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	37		KTM	13	+5.478 19'42.603	2.068	170.2		4
7	F. Aldeguer Gresini Racing	54		Ducati	13	+7.036 19'44.161	1.558	169.9		3
8	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	63		Ducati	13	+10.039 19'47.164	3.003	169.5		2
9	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20		Yamaha	13	+10.248 19'47.373	0.209	169.5		1
10	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42		Yamaha	13	+13.288 19'50.413	3.040	169.0
11	E. Bastianini Tech 3	23		KTM	13	+16.834 19'53.959	3.546	168.5
12	J. Zarco Team LCR	5		Honda	13	+17.646 19'54.771	0.812	168.4
13	J. Miller Pramac Racing	43		Yamaha	13	+18.285 19'55.410	0.639	168.3
14	F. Morbidelli Team VR46	21		Ducati	13	+18.956 19'56.081	0.671	168.2
15	L. Marini Honda HRC	10		Honda	13	+19.227 19'56.352	0.271	168.2
16	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33		KTM	13	+19.293 19'56.418	0.066	168.2
17	D. Moreira Team LCR	11		Honda	13	+19.562 19'56.687	0.269	168.2
18	M. Viñales Tech 3	12		KTM	13	+23.472 20'00.597	3.910	167.6
19	T. Razgatlioglu Pramac Racing	7		Yamaha	13	+23.834 20'00.959	0.362	167.6
20	A. Espargaro Honda HRC	41		Honda	13	+38.336 20'15.461	14.502	165.6
dnf	M. Bezzecchi Aprilia Racing Team	72		Aprilia	0	+13 Laps 7.806	13 Laps		Accident
dnf	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25		Aprilia	0	+13 Laps 7.838	0.032		Accident
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