MotoGP: Aldeguer takes stunning maiden win in Mandalika as Marquez and Bezzecchi clash.
The rookie becomes the second-youngest MotoGP winner as the #72 and #93 collide on Lap 1.
How about that for a way to win your first MotoGP Grand Prix? Take a bow, Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP). The rookie becomes the second-youngest MotoGP winner after clinching an utterly dominant victory in a dramatic Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia that saw Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) and Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) collide and crash on Lap 1. In a fascinating fight for second and third, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) collected P2 ahead of Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) in an unmissable MotoGP encounter in Mandalika.
Immediate drama as Bezzecchi and Marc Marquez crash
Just like he did in the Sprint, and once again, it wasn’t a good start from Bezzecchi from pole as Acosta earned the holeshot. Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) made a cracking start from P6 and was an early second as huge drama unfolded at Turn 6.
Bezzecchi was behind Marc Marquez and went for a gap that didn’t really exist at the furiously fast right-hander. Contact was made, Bezzecchi hitting Marc Marquez’s Ducati, and both went down in a big way. The pre-race favourite and the World Champion were out of the Grand Prix after six corners, with both thankfully able to walk away.
However, Marc Marquez did suffer an injury to his right collarbone in the crash, meaning the #93 will fly back to Europe for further checks to see if surgery will be needed. In addition, post-race, Aprilia Racing confirmed that Bezzecchi was taken to the local hospital for further examinations.
Acosta leads before Aldeguer pulls the pin
Back on track, another podium contender then crashed on Lap 2, as Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) went down at Turn 16 to end his positive weekend prematurely. So, where did that leave us? Acosta led from Aldeguer and Marini, with Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) a close P4. Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was in P5 ahead of his teammate Fabio Quartararo.
On Lap 7, Aldeguer hit the front for the first time. Turn 10 was the passing place; a classic up the inside move was done, but Acosta retaliated at Turn 1 on the next lap. But the #37 was wide, allowing Aldeguer back through, and a fastest lap of the Grand Prix was landed by the rookie to stretch his lead to 0.509s over the line.
While lapping in P16, Francesco Bagnaia’s (Ducati Lenovo Team) disappointing weekend ended with a Turn 17 crash, in what quickly turned into a Grand Prix to forget for the newly crowned Teams’ World Champions.
At the front, Aldeguer had checked out. On Lap 11, the rookie’s lead was 2.5s, as Marini began to climb all over the tailpipes of Acosta. Fernandez was right there too, and if anyone had hopes of winning this contest, getting past Acosta as soon as possible was key.
An incredible podium fight unfolds
But we were witnessing superiority from Aldeguer here. The #54 was lapping a good half a second and the rest faster than anyone else on track, and with Marini and Acosta engaging in battle, that lead grew to 4.3s at the start of Lap 13. And all this was bringing Rins, Alex Marquez, Quartararo, and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) into the podium picture.
Lap 14 saw Fernandez and Marini scrap it out through Turn 16 and Turn 17, and as contact was made going into the final corner, Rins said, ‘Thank you very much’, and moved into P3. Alex Marquez cruised through as well and suddenly, Fernandez and Marini were P5 and P8.
At this stage, Aldeguer was 6.5s up the road. The win, if no mistakes were made and his tyres didn’t fall off a cliff, was his. But this fight for the final two rostrum spots was superb. P2 down to Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) in P12 was just over three seconds.
Acosta was digging deep in P2. His personal best lap of the Grand Prix came on Lap 17, a 1:31.107, and it was enough at this stage to keep Rins and the rest at arm’s length. That safety net didn’t last though. Rins was through on Lap 20, and now it was Alex Marquez who began to hound the KTM.
And a move from the #73 arrived on Lap 22 at Turn 10 to shove Acosta out of the podium places for the first time. Then, Marquez powered past Rins into Turn 1 to make it a Gresini 1-2 in Indonesia as Rins began to really struggle on that soft rear tyre. Fernandez and Binder were through, Acosta was back into P3, with Binder – from P15 on the grid – fending off Fernandez to see the South African sit in P4 behind teammate Acosta.
With three laps to go, Acosta was back into P2 at Turn 10 to return the favour on Alex Marquez, as a 0.9s gap opened up behind the battle for P2 and P3 to Binder.
Starting the final lap in a different postcode to the field, Aldeguer just had to cruise home to a dream debut MotoGP victory. 8.6s was the gap, and it looked like Acosta had P2 in the bag too as Alex Marquez dropped to 0.9s back.
And of course, Aldeguer made no mistakes. What a ride. What a win. Aldeguer adds his name to that illustrious MotoGP winners’ list, and he’s also the second youngest to ever do it after the famous #93. Acosta did hold onto a very, very hard-fought P2, with Alex Marquez strengthening his grip on second in the championship with a P3 in Indonesia.
Your Indonesian GP points scorers
Fair play to Binder. That was some effort to bring his RC16 home in a season-best P4, with Marini battling his way back to P5. Fernandez backed up his Sprint podium with a solid P6 in the Grand Prix, with Quartararo the lead Yamaha rider in seventh. Eighth went to Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), P9 was his teammate Di Giannantonio, with Rins’ charge ending with a P10 – but how good was it to see the #42 back in the rostrum scrap?
Miguel Oliveira (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) was 11th across the line ahead of Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR), Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda LCR), and Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) – the Australian crossing the line in P14 after he crashed out of the top 10 group in the closing stages.
Next: Phillip Island
Well, that was breathless. We witnessed the good and the bad in that MotoGP encounter, as we wait to see if Marc Marquez and Bezzecchi will be fit enough to be back on track next time out at Phillip Island. Aldeguer will head to Australia as a MotoGP winner, as we look forward to getting going again at an all-time classic.
[content-egg module=AmazonNoApi template=grid]
For more MotoGP info check out our dedicated MotoGP News page
Or visit the official MotoGP website www.motogp.com
©Words/Images are from an official press release posted courtesy of www.motogp.com
[content-egg module=Amazon template=grid]
* Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission (at no cost to you) if you click on the link and make a purchase. Any money made goes straight back into the website and magazine. Your support is appreciated!
