As the asian tour continues, the next stop goes to Indonesia for the 15th round of the championship, at the Pertamina Mandalika Circuit.

Big results happened at the starting grid, as Francesco Bagnaia got eliminated on the last second of Q1 by his teammate Enea Bastianini, Jorge Martin fell on Q2, but was able to grab 6th at the starting grid and Luca Marini gets pole position, alongside Maverick Viñales and Aleix Espargaro, closing a front row with the 2 Aprilias.

Qualy results:

1. Luca Marini /// 2. Maverick Viñales/// 3. Aleix Espargaro
4. Fabio Quatararo /// 5. Brad Binder /// 6. Jorge Martin
7. Fabio Di Giannantoino/// 8. Marc Marquez /// 9. Marco Bezzecchi
10. Jack Miller /// 11.Enea Bastianini /// 12. Miguel Oliveira
13. Francesco Bagnaia /// 14. Johann Zarco /// 15. Franco Morbidelli
16. Pol Espargaro /// 17. Raul Fernandez /// 18. Augusto Fernandez
19. Joan Mir /// 20. Takaaki Nakagami /// 21. Alex Rins

Lights were off and the sprint race was underway, as Maverick Viñales took the lead at the start of the lap, with a big fall for Aleix Espargaro, meanwhile Luca Marini was only demoted to 2nd. Big battles develop on the first laps, such as Aleix Espargaro, Binder, Quatararo, Di Giannantoino and Marc Marquez. The last one mentioned having an accident and losing any possibility for points.

A couple of laps later, another incident happened on track, this time between Aleix Espargaro and Brad Binder after a hit between the two of them, as the asphalt showed significant lack of grip, when riders opted for an alternative racing line. Meanwhile at the front, Maverick Viñales looked quite comfortable, although a Pramac rider was quickly gaining and getting closer to the front.

Jorge Martin was quickly gaining pace, overtaking Quatararo, then Marini and now had Maverick Viñales in striking distance, with the pramac rider quickly taking the lead from the Aprilia bike. It was clear that Viñales was losing pace in the second half of the sprint as it was quickly overtaken by Luca Marini and his provisional podium was in danger, as Marco Bezzecchi was gaining on him

With the few laps remaining, Bezzecchi was at a better pace than Viñales, but the Italian rider was struggling to make a move, as the Mooney rider had a recent surgery to repair a damaged collar bone. It was late but eventually, in the final lap, the Italian rider was able to grab 3rd from Maverick Viñales, as his teammate Luca Marini went 2nd and Jorge Martin got yet another Sprint race win.

Sprint results:

1. Jorge Martin /// 2. Luca Marini /// 3. Marco Bezzecchi
4. Maverick Viñales /// 5. Brad Binder /// 6. Fabio Di Giannantoino
7. Enea Bastianini /// 8. Francesco Bagnaia /// 9. Jack Miller
10. Miguel Oliveira /// 11. Takaaki Nakagami /// 12. Johann Zarco
13. Augusto Fernandez /// 14. Raul Fernandez /// 15. Franco Morbidelli
16. Joan Mir /// 17. Pol Espargaro /// 18. Alex Rins
19. Brad Binder

DNF: Aleix Espargaro, Marc Marquez

With another sprint win for Jorge Martin, the Spaniard now is the new championship leader by 7 points of gap against Francesco Bagnaia, with 4 and a half rounds to go, all points become a must need for both riders, as the championship is on the line.

MiniBikers – MotoGP
2023 Indonesian GP
Sprint Race