Indonesian GP – Qualifying: Marco Bezzecchi takes a record pole position

For the first time since the 2023 Valencia Grand Prix of MotoGP, the two official Ducati riders were forced to go through Q1. There they met the two Desmosedici GPs of the VR46 team, and the Honda of the Frenchman, Johann Zarco. The session, which still granted two places for Q2, therefore presented a lot of stakes.

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Qualification 1: 

At the start of the session, the VR46 drivers took the lead, with Fabio Di Giannantonio well ahead of Franco Morbidelli, but Marc Márquez was able to compete with the latter. Far from being the best in Q1, the Spaniard gained hundredths of a second as he went through his laps, and managed to set a time of 1:29.670. 48 seconds ahead of the Italian on his final run, this attempt was enough to qualify him for Q2.

Behind, the times are similar, Jack Miller is 4th by 39 thousandths of a second, ahead of Brad Binder and Pecco Bagnaia, who set the same time. The South African's second best time was faster than the Italian's, and he inherited 5th place – 15th on the grid. Pecco Bagnaia will start from 16th place on the starting grid, on the sixth row.

On this same sixth row, behind Enea Bastianini, Johann Zarco concluded his qualifying session with the 8th time in Q1, synonymous with 18th place on the starting grid.

Qualification 2: 

The hot favorite for pole position, Marco Bezzecchi, was barely troubled in Q2. The Italian put in a string of laps and gradually knocked the benchmark off the pace. At the checkered flag, his final effort of 1:28.832 allowed him to confirm his position. In addition to the pole position, Aprilia riders also set the lap record. Four tenths behind him, Fermin Aldeguer took second place in qualifying. Raúl Fernández completed the front row in the second Aprilia entered at Mandalika.

If he was a serious candidate for the front row given his performance in Free Practice 2, fabio quartararo made things difficult from the start. The Frenchman crashed in sector 4 at high speed and damaged his M1. He set off again for an attempt and finished 8th in Q2. Later in the session, his teammate, Álex Rins, also crashed. He nevertheless maintained his 4th fastest time and joined Pedro Acosta and Luca Marini on the second row.

Marc Márquez didn't perform miracles with his Ducati during a chaotic weekend for the factory team. The Catalan finished ninth, without really being able to put up a fight. His younger brother, Alex Márquez, also crashed in this session. The current runner-up to the reigning world champion will start seventh in both the Sprint and the Race.

MotoGP – Indonesian GP 

The Q2 ranking

Ranking : MotoTiming