By Donovan Fourie | Guest Contributor | MotoGP Analyst
A Wild Weekend in Indonesia
The Indonesian MotoGP round was the most entertaining of the year so far. We saw a different qualifying line-up, a Sprint Race that went down to the last lap and a Main Race that will go down in history.
Qualifying Shake-Up
In qualifying, we saw a delightful mix of two Aprilias, three Ducatis, three Yamahas, one Honda and one KTM lineup in the top ten. Bezzecchhi took pole, followed by rookie Fermin Aldeguer.
Uncharacteristically, for the first time this year, Marc Marquez had to go through the Q1 session, and managed only a ninth in Q2, his worst qualifying of the year.
Sprint Race: Decided on the Last Lap
Bezzecchi also took top honours in the Saturday Sprint Race after a terrible start. He worked his way up the field and eventually forced his way ahead of a strong Aldeguer on the last lap. This has been the only last-lap decider this year, and fans were grateful for it.
Main Race Flashpoint: Bezzecchi vs Marquez
The main race saw Bezzecchi completely botch another start, sending him back to seventh place behind Marc Marquez. Keen to see his way through the field quickly, he completely misjudged everything and ended up ramming the back of Marc Marquez at somewhere close to 200km/h.
Both riders ended up tumbling through the gravel trap, and both took a worrying amount of time to stand up again afterwards, with Bezzecchi eventually walking off mostly unblemished, but Marquez was holding his right arm.
Injury Update: Collarbone & Possible Ligament Damage
Afterwards, it was confirmed that he had broken his collarbone, an injury not too serious, and can be mended by surgeons bolting enough metal onto it. The record for the fastest recovery from a collarbone surgery was Jorge Lorenzo in 2013, when he crashed during Friday practice at Assen, broke his collarbone, flew back to Spain for surgery and lined up on the grid to race and finish on Sunday. Marquez could easily return for the Australian round next weekend.
What makes Marquez’s condition more worrying is reports of ligament damage, possibly even broken ligaments. A collarbone can be braced with metalwork, a ligament is far trickier.
At the time of writing this article, Marquez is undergoing scans in Madrid to determine the extent of the damage. Even if the Spaniard cannot return to Australia, or even any of the subsequent rounds, it’s not with exactly devastating as he was crowned champion in Japan already. His fans will miss him, though.
Aldeguer’s Breakthrough Win
With Bezzecchi out of the race, it was Fermin Aldeguer’s turn to shine. He soon found his way to the front of the field, and that was the last anyone else saw of him. He eventually pulled a lead of a little more than nine seconds ahead of the field and made a mark in history as the second youngest MotoGP winner after Marquez.
The Fight Behind: Binder’s Charge & An 11-Rider Train
Far behind him, chaos ensued. The good kind, though. An eleven-rider train fought tooth and nail for second place. Among them was South Africa’s Brad Binder, who started the race in 15th. He had mostly struggled that weekend until the team tried something new for Sunday morning Warm-Up that gave Binder newfound confidence in this front-end, something he’s been struggling with all year.
By the end of the first lap, he was in ninth place, and spent the entire race tussling until eventually finishing in a season best fourth place. Binder’s teammate, Pedro Acosta, took second with Alex Marquez representing what’s left of the family in third. Luca Marini continued Honda’s improved form in fifth.
Why Mandalika Delivered Great Racing
The 2025 season hasn’t been the most thrilling in terms of fairing-bashing bashing close racing, whereas the Mandalika Circuit offered all that. But Why? Because it’s different.
The modern circuit design trend entails straights and hairpins, especially hairpins leading onto straights, because that’s what Formula One likes. For MotoGP, it’s awful.
Slow corners rely heavily on the bike setup because they push the tyres further with hard acceleration in low gears. If your bike doesn’t have quite the grip of your opposition, you will feel it heavily.
Mandalika is mostly fast sweepers that require higher gears and less strain on the tyres. With that, a perfect setup is less essential, and riders also have more room for flexibility. They can ride more in a manner that suits their style and their bike.
Looking Ahead: Phillip Island Next
And so, we had a good race. Australia’s Phillip Island is similarly fast and often generates good racing. Let’s see next weekend.