The Italian comes back from a poor start to overtake the rookie in the closing stages as Fernandez earns debut MotoGP podium.
Marco Bezzecchi vs Fermin Aldeguer. Aprilia Racing’s Italian vs BK8 Gresini Racing’s rookie, and boy was it a Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia Tissot Sprint treat that we’ll remember for a long time. It was Bezzecchi who completed an incredible comeback after a poor start to overtake the Ducati rider on the final lap for the gold medal, as Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) took P3 from the front row to earn his first rostrum in MotoGP.
Poor start from Bez, Marc Marquez handed Long Lap penalty
From the off, Bezzecchi didn’t get a good launch from pole as Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) briefly led from P6, but the Italian was wide to allow Aldeguer and Fernandez through, as well as Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).
Turn 10 on the opening lap saw Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) make contact, which saw both run wide, with the Yamaha star coming out the worse of the two. It was an incident that saw the World Champion handed a Long Lap penalty, which he took on Lap 3, and that dropped him to P13 – ahead of where Rins had been shuffled back to.
Aldeguer leads, Acosta crashes from P2
At the front, Aldeguer was leading by half a second from Acosta, with Fernandez still third ahead of Marini and Bezzecchi. As we watched Bezzecchi attempt a pass at Turn 1 on Marini, we then cut to Acosta in the gravel at the same corner. The KTM star was down and out of P2 which handed Aldeguer a 1.8s lead, with Bezzecchi now chasing Fernandez for P2.
Aldeguer vs Bezzecchi unfolds
As soon as he got a bit of clean air, Bezzecchi set the fastest lap of the Sprint. With eight laps left, the Italian was just over two seconds away from the leader. Aldeguer’s best friend in this Sprint was second place Fernandez and on Lap 8 of 13, Bezzecchi was swarming all over the rear tyre of the Trackhouse rider.
A pass for P2 came at Turn 10 on Lap 8 and at this stage, the gap between Aldeguer and Bezzecchi sat at 1.9s. A lap later it was 1.2s because Bezzecchi slammed in a 1:29.638 – a new fastest lap of the Sprint, and that compared to Aldeguer’s 1:30.379. This was some sensational pace from the polesitter and after a very sluggish start that saw him drop to P8, the #72 was well in the victory hunt.
With two laps to go, the gap was down to 0.5s as Bezzecchi took another four tenths off of Aldeguer’s lead and at the start of the last lap, it was 0.3s. Then, it was nothing.
Turn 10 was the place again for Bezzecchi and he got the job done despite being slightly wide. He picked up Aldeguer but the rookie wasn’t giving this up without a fight. It was close through Turn 12, but Bezzecchi had the advantage and he managed to hold it to the line. A stunning comeback from Bezzecchi to catch and pass Aldeguer on the last lap as the pair treat us to a brilliant Saturday Sprint in Mandalika, as Fernandez held onto his first Sprint podium in P3.
Your Saturday points scorers
Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) crossed the line in a fairly lonely P4 to strengthen his grip on P2 in the overall championship, with Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) completing the top five. Marini dropped to P6 in the end but after a post-race eight-second tyre pressure penalty, the Italian dropped out of the points. That meant Marc Marquez finished the Sprint in P6 after he cut his way back through some of the pack after his Long Lap penalty.
P7 and P8 went to Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team duo Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Di Giannantonio, while Miguel Oliveira (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) was promoted from P10 to P9 and the final point after Marini’s penalty.
Meanwhile, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), last weekend’s Sprint and Grand Prix winner, finished 29s off the win in P14 to see Bezzecchi close in on P3 overall. Ducati Lenovo Team’s disappointing Saturday didn’t stop them from clinching the Teams’ Championship, though. Congratulations to all in red for another fantastic season, but they’ll be searching for a better day at the office tomorrow.
Coming up: Grand Prix Sunday
Well, Saturday has set us up very nicely indeed for Sunday in Indonesia. Can Bezzecchi complete the perfect weekend? Or can Aldeguer and co take it to the Italian and Aprilia? We’re keen to find out.
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