Jorge Martín was once again the strongest in Mandalika, but a new mistake in the Indonesian GP ruined him on a Saturday that promised celebrations. Just like last year, where a fall when he was dominating the long race at will turned his first lead of the event into a seen and unseen in less than 24 hours, the Spaniard took victory in the ‘sprint’ this Saturday in a blink of an eye. Despite signing another record pole position, the sixth of the course and his personal best in the premier category, the World Championship leader fell in the penultimate corner of the first lap of the short race and laid out the red carpet for his rivals. .
The current champion and main pursuer of the Madrid native, Pecco Bagnaia, caught a balmy victory after his setback last week in Misano. Without seeing himself superior to his great rival, he cuts him 12 points at once and is another 12 away from the lead. The Ducati Italian was able to hold his own against the attacks of Enea Bastianini and Marc Márquez, his two companions on the podium. All of them have been making the rubber for weeks in the championship classification, more marked by errors than by the successes of the four candidates. “Thanks to Jorge’s mistake we are close again,” celebrated the number one, fourth on the grid. “Cutting 12 points here was much more than the goal I had set for myself before starting the weekend,” he added.
Martín, desperate, ran into a turn 16 that has claimed victims from all teams and categories throughout the weekend. “I don’t know where exactly, but there is a small area that looks like ice,” he commented with some resignation. “It was not a problem with the layout, and I am not calm. Looking at the data there is nothing strange, and I suppose I will be more careful over there this Sunday. Likewise, I am left with the positive, and that is that I have been fast and I have practiced overtaking.” The Pramac rider was able to pick up the bike immediately and rejoin the race at the back of the group, almost eight seconds behind the leader. He proceeded to climb from twenty-first to tenth place, remaining just shy of the points and just nine seconds behind the winner.
Also bothered by the falls, Márquez made a strong recovery from twelfth place on the grid to the third step on the podium. A great start allowed him to climb six positions in the first corner, three in acceleration and another three in braking. Although he tried to hunt down Bagnaia after the self-discard of an ambitious Marco Bezzecchi, who almost ate his team leader at the Rossi academy on the seventh lap, he was later overtaken by a stronger Bastianini in the final stretch of the race. “The classification thing is a nightmare, and the podium is more than positive after everything that has happened… but I am not happy, since in the future I cannot continue making these mistakes,” explained the 93rd. The one from Gresini chains already three classifications biting the asphalt, a notable handicap when it is already fighting for victories.
Despite the fact that mistakes plague the contenders’ resumes, or precisely thanks to them, Márquez remains within striking distance of the championship overall. He is 53 points behind Martín, but 210 points remain to be distributed. Any zero, it is amply demonstrated, can change the panorama overnight.
