Mandalika, 2025: Youngster in the lead, Bezzecchi pushed champion Marc Marquez

Last year, too, the team headed straight from the Japanese Grand Prix to the holiday paradise of Lombok. Ducati Corse arrived at the Mandalika island circuit in a doubly celebratory mood – with plenty of champagne still lingering on the team led by mastermind Gigi Dall’Igna. Marquez stepped off the plane as the 2025 World Champion, whilst his team-mate Pecco Bagnaia was the double winner at Motegi.

The Indonesian Grand Prix proved just how close heaven and hell are in MotoGP. The fact that things weren’t going smoothly for the factory team was evident on the flowing but only moderately fast track as early as the first day of practice. Led by Marco Bezzecchi, the Aprilia riders dominated, although Jorge Martin was not on the grid. The ‘Martinator’ had paid the price for his spirited performance the previous weekend with a broken collarbone.

Marco Bezzecchi: Startplatz 1 und Sieg im Sprint auf Lombok

Foto: Gold and Goose

Ducati Lenovo couldn’t find a solution on Sprint Saturday either. In Q2, the newly crowned champion could manage no better than 9th place. Last year’s bike performed better under rookie Fermin Aldeguer. The rookie on the Gresini bike finished in the top five in every session – when it came down to it, he slotted the GP24 between Bezzecchi and Fernández on the front row. Yamaha rider Alex Rins provided a minor surprise by finishing fourth ahead of KTM frontrunner Pedro Acosta.

Over the sprint distance in the heat of Lombok, the picture from qualifying was confirmed. Aprilia works rider Marco Bezzecchi had underlined the RS-GP’s capabilities in the autumn of 2025 with a commanding leap forward. For his brand-mate Fernández in third place, it was an even greater breakthrough. In between them was Fermín Aldeguer, who had his Mandalika team-mate Alex Márquez firmly under control. Whilst Pedro Acosta crashed out, even Marc Márquez’s position was hard-fought. Completely out of the running, just as he had been before the start of the Asian tour – Pecco Bagnaia. Six days earlier, the GP winner, number 63, had finished in last place.

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On Sunday, finally, the Indonesian GP turned into a complete Ducati-Lenovo debacle. The winner of the sprint was partly to blame. Marco Bezzecchi had got off to a poor start in the GP and tried to push too hard on lap 1. The Aprilia rider made contact with the rear of the world champion’s Ducati. The collision was forceful enough to send both stars crashing into the dust. It quickly became clear that Marc Marquez had not emerged from the crash unscathed. With four events and eight races remaining before the end of the season, his 2025 campaign was effectively over. Instead of travelling from circuit to circuit, Marquez – having suffered a broken collarbone and a fractured shoulder – headed off for a further phase of treatment. To top it all off, Bagnaia crashed at the back of the field but emerged unscathed.

Marco Bezzecchi schubste Weltmeister Marc Marquez ins Aus

Foto: motogp.com

And yet, in the end, it was once again a Ducati that took the win, ridden by Fermin Aldeguer. The rider, who remains the youngest in the premier class to this day, overtook Acosta and, thanks in part to Bezzecchi’s retirement, pulled away unchallenged to build a lead of almost seven seconds over the KTM youngster. At Mandalika, Aldeguer achieved what Acosta failed to do as a rookie – victory. Acosta still put in a fabulous performance, however, and with a strong finish prevented a Gresini one-two.

Pedro Acosta besiegte Alex Marquez im GP im Kampf um Platz 2

Foto: Gold and Goose

Remarkably, despite showing the best pace and dominating the sprint race, no RS-GP managed to finish in the top five of the Grand Prix, with Brad Binder taking fourth place and Honda rider Luca Marini finishing fifth. Following the title decision in Japan in favour of ‘MM93’, the positions behind the champion were now also cemented. Alex Márquez was heading for the runners-up spot; Bezzecchi now had third place in the World Championship within his grasp.