Warm-up, Mandalika: Bezzecchi in the lead, Martin crashes – Aleix Espargaro out

In the sweltering heat of Lombok, the term ‘warm-up’ is somewhat misleading. At 10.40 am local time, conditions were almost identical to those during the sprint the previous day. Twenty-one riders took to the Mandalika Circuit – the VR46 Racing team already sporting their eye-catching Indonesia livery.

Whilst Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez, who had crashed in the sprint, took part in the warm-up despite a broken finger, Honda’s stand-in rider Aleix Espargaro withdrew from the event. Espargaro had also crashed in the sprint. Pain, partly due to his not yet fully recovered from his XK Sepang crashes six months ago, prevented the GP veteran from taking part in the warm-up and the GP race.

In terms of speed, Fernandez’s finger injury did not hold him back. With a time of 1:29.660, the Spaniard clocked the second-fastest time. Only his team-mate Marco Bezzecchi was faster (1:29.617 mins). Marc Márquez finished the warm-up in third place ahead of Fermin Aldeguer and Jorge Martín. It was nevertheless not an easy session for the ‘Martinator’, as Martin crashed in Turn 11 with three minutes remaining. Whilst the current World Championship runner-up escaped without injury, his RS-GP was badly damaged.

Behind Fabio Di Giannantonio (6th) came Pedro Acosta, followed by Alex Márquez, Quartararo and the runner-up in the sprint, Ai Ogura.

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11.10.2026 - 07:00