Jorge Martin takes points lead with Indonesia sprint victory

Jorge Martin took the championship lead after sprinting to victory in the Indonesian Grand Prix sprint race.

Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin took the MotoGP points lead from reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia after pulling off a late overtake to win the Indonesian Grand Prix sprint race.

Martin managed to claw 10 points ahead of former championship leader Pecco Bagnaia regardless of the limited points readily available in the half-distance Saturday sprint races, helped by the reigning champion’s restrained riding.

Luca Marini, who started on pole for the first time in his MotoGP career, maintained the lead into the first corner until he was swiftly displaced by Maverick Vinales’ Aprilia through the exit of the turn.

Alongside the front row runners, Vinales’ teammate Aleix Espargaro had an impressive start while Martin and Bagnaia, two typically quick-starting title contenders, made just minimal progress.

However, Martin quickly started to make up lost ground after that. He reclaimed third through Turn 1 after edging Brad Binder’s KTM, but went wide and was eventually passed by Fabio Quartararo’s Yamaha. The same situation took place at Turn 10, but at Turn 12 Martin was eventually successful in executing the move.

Marini was up next, and Martin took until lap five to successfully maneuver around the VR46 rider with an aggressive but successful move into the right-hander at Turn 10.

Vinales had already pulled ahead of Martin by nine tenths of a second by the time Martin overhauled him, but that cushion was insufficient, and by lap 9 of 13, Vinales had already passed Martin.

Martin had taken advantage of Vinales’ troubles with the sharp turns at Turns 7, 8, and 9 to gain the upper hand by moving past him at Turn 10.

A lap later, Vinales had Marini attack him in the same way instead of retaliating. Marini even gave the impression of catching up to Martin briefly, but ultimately finished 1.1 seconds later.

The final lap saw Marini’s VR46 teammate Marco Bezzecchi overtake Vinales once more at Turn 10 to seal an all-Ducati podium finish. Bezzecchi, like Marini, is recovering from a collarbone fracture this weekend.

Vinales finished fourth, ahead of Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo and Gresini Ducati’s Fabio Di Giannantonio, who will be replaced by Marc Marquez for the upcoming season. This was his best-ever premier-class finish.

In contrast to Martin, Bagnaia not only made slow progress at first but also had trouble passing competitors the entire race.

Bagnaia’s factory teammate Enea Bastianini remained ahead of the reigning world champion for a significant part sprint. However, he was unable to overtake him and he came in eighth and earned two points.

He must therefore prepare for another 13th-place start tomorrow because he is already seven points behind Martin in the championship standings. At least Bagnaia benefitted from attrition. Having just passed Espargaro to claim sixth place, Marquez fell out on the first lap.

Additionally Espargaro struck Brad Binder’s KTM while attempting to get past him at Turn 16. He tucked the front as he pushed to the inside line and sent both of the riders tumbling. However the stewards later decided that no further action was necessary.

KTM did manage to grab a point thanks to Jack Miller finishing ninth despite having Binder down in 19th after getting back to action.

On the LCR Honda, Takaaki Nakagami battled impressively to make his way up the order, finishing 11th and leading Pramac’s Johann Zarco. The Japanese rider was placing 20th on the grid ahead of the sprint.

In spite of challenges, Franco Morbidelli kept up with the sister Yamaha contender and finished the sprint in 15th place, barely ahead of Honda’s Joan Mir and GasGas’ Pol Espargaro.

Six of the top nine spots in terms of points were claimed by Ducatis after the sprint race, and the Italian brand was also crowned its fourth-consecutive manufacturer champion, with five sprint and six grand prix events remaining.

2023 Indonesian MotoGP Sprint Race Results