MotoGP Indonesian GP: Martin sees off Acosta for redemptive win

Jorge Martin restored his advantage at the head of the 2024 MotoGP world championship standings with a dominant lights-to-flag victory in the Indonesian Grand Prix at the Mandalika Circuit.

The Pramac Ducati rider was the class of the field from start-to-finish as he put the frustrations of Saturday’s sprint race crash - and his competition - firmly behind him to secure his first Sunday success since the French Grand Prix at Le Mans in May.

A result that will boost Martin’s confidence a year on from the agony of throwing both a victory and the championship lead away with a costly crash at the Lombok venue, this time the Spaniard leaves Indonesia with a comfortable 21-point margin over factory Ducati rival Francesco Bagnaia - who finished third - with five rounds of the season to go.

In a race of attrition in which just 12 of the 21 starters finished, Martin left the drama in his wake and nailed the ideal start to secure the lead.

With no repeat of the mistake that took him down before the end of lap one in the sprint race, Martin proceeded to get his head down and open up a comfortable margin over a chasing pack initially headed by Enea Bastianini until Pedro Acosta moved into second on lap three.

It was a position the rookie would hold on merit too, Acosta quickly gapping Bastianini before making inroads into Martin’s lead.

However, despite the hint of a potential dual for the win as Acosta chipped away at his compatriot's advantage, Martin asserted his control in the closing laps to gallop home 1.4s clear of the GasGas Tech3 rider.

Arguably the most convincing race of Acosta’s stellar rookie campaign, second place represents the 2023 Moto2 champion’s fourth trip to the podium in 2024.

Jack Miller, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing, Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing crash

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

He was lucky, however, to avoid a late showdown for the position against Bastianini, the Italian making big in-roads towards the KTM ahead once he’d dispatched a stubborn Franco Morbidelli (Pramac) on lap 17.

However, the factory Ducati rider’s charge - and potentially his title hopes - came to an abrupt end just four laps later when he low-sided out of third at Turn 1.

His exit therefore promoted Bagnaia into a distant third place, the double defending champion rescuing a decent result from a lacklustre afternoon that had him struggling to keep up with the top five for long stretches.

However, after eventually getting the better of Morbidelli and Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Ducati) late on, Bagnaia was able to limit the damage to a gap that swells in Martin’s favour once more.

In fourth, Morbidelli was rewarded for his efforts after spending much of his afternoon resolutely defending his position from Bastianini, Bezzecchi and Bagnaia.

Though Bagnaia eventually got ahead, a wide moment for Bezzecchi at Turn 10 with six laps remaining decided the remaining top five spots in Morbidelli’s favour.

Though more than 11s off the win, Maverick Vinales notched up good points for sixth. The Aprilia Racing rider overcame Fabio Quartararo, who recovered from a poor start and capitalised on retirements ahead of take another seventh place on the Yamaha.

Merely reaching the flag would prove an achievement worth a fistful of points after nine riders slumped into early exits.

Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Marc Marquez joined Bastianini on the sidelines after technical issues left the Spaniard’s Gresini Ducati both powerless and on fire when it cried enough on lap 12, three laps after Fabio di Giannantonio slipped off his VR46 machine.

Four riders, meanwhile, failed to make it further than Turn 3 after an errant Jack Miller folded his KTM tight on the entry for the left-hander, the RC16 proceeding to skittle Aleix Espargaro, Luca Marini and Alex Marquez off their bikes in the process.

The dramas thus allowed Brad Binder to end a tough weekend on the positive of an eighth place finish, while Johann Zarco achieved his and Honda’s biggest points haul of the season with his run to ninth.

Raul Fernandez took his sole surviving Trackhouse Aprilia to tenth, ahead of remaining race finishers Takaaki Nakagami and Alex Rins in 11th and 12th respectively.

MotoGP Indonesian GP Race Results:

1 - 2
Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Retirement	Points
1	J. Martin Pramac Racing	89	Ducati	27	41'04.389		169.6		25
2	P. Acosta Tech 3	31	KTM	27	+1.404 41'05.793	1.404	169.5		20
3	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	1	Ducati	27	+5.595 41'09.984	4.191	169.2		16
4	F. Morbidelli Pramac Racing	21	Ducati	27	+6.507 41'10.896	0.912	169.1		13
5	M. Bezzecchi Team VR46	72	Ducati	27	+6.772 41'11.161	0.265	169.1		11
6	M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team	12	Aprilia	27	+11.330 41'15.719	4.558	168.8		10
7	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20	Yamaha	27	+13.203 41'17.592	1.873	168.7		9
8	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33	KTM	27	+14.862 41'19.251	1.659	168.6		8
9	J. Zarco Team LCR	5	Honda	27	+15.151 41'19.540	0.289	168.6		7
10	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25	Aprilia	27	+21.079 41'25.468	5.928	168.2		6
11	T. Nakagami Team LCR	30	Honda	27	+27.696 41'32.085	6.617	167.7		5
12	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42	Yamaha	27	+33.633 41'38.022	5.937	167.3		4
dnf	E. Bastianini Ducati Team	23	Ducati	20	+7 Laps 30'28.217	7 Laps	169.3	Accident
dnf	A. Fernandez Tech 3	37	KTM	19	+8 Laps 29'16.333	1 Lap	167.5	Retirement
dnf	J. Mir Repsol Honda Team	36	Honda	12	+15 Laps 18'36.606	7 Laps	166.3	Accident
dnf	M. Marquez Gresini Racing	93	Ducati	11	+16 Laps 16'51.947	1 Lap	168.3	Retirement
dnf	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49	Ducati	8	+19 Laps 12'18.934	3 Laps	167.6	Accident
dnf	A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team	41	Aprilia	0	27 laps			Accident
dnf	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73	Ducati	0	27 laps			Accident
dnf	J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	43	KTM	0	27 laps			Accident
dnf	L. Marini Repsol Honda Team	10	Honda	0	27 laps			Accident
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