Marco Bezzecchi won the Indonesian Grand Prix at the Mandalika circuit on Sunday, leading an Aprilia sweep of the first four finishing positions, according to Corriere della Sera. Raul Fernandez finished second and Jorge Martin third, a result that returned Martin to the top of the riders' championship standings.
The race delivered Aprilia its first-ever top-four lockout in MotoGP, Corriere della Sera reported. Ai Ogura completed the sweep in fourth.
Martin now leads Marc Marquez by two points in the title race, per the same report. Marquez, riding for Ducati, finished sixth.
Why it matters
The result reshuffles the championship picture with the season entering its closing stretch. Martin's return to the front of the standings preserves the same margin he held after the previous round in Japan, according to Corriere della Sera, meaning Aprilia's dominant Sunday did not widen his buffer over Marquez.
Bezzecchi's victory also marked a personal milestone. It was his fifth win of the season and came 133 days after his victory at Mugello, the report noted. It was additionally the 300th premier-class win by an Italian rider, according to the same source.
For Aprilia, the weekend carried a note of regret. Corriere della Sera reported that the team left Indonesia aware it had squandered Saturday's Sprint race, where Martin crashed out and Bezzecchi fell at the start. Martin's recovery of the championship lead, the outlet noted, came without any gain in his points advantage over Marquez.
How the race unfolded
Fernandez started from pole and held the lead early, while Bezzecchi slotted in behind him. Martin, by contrast, made a poor start and dropped to sixth, Corriere della Sera reported.
Bezzecchi stayed close to Fernandez and took the lead on lap 19, pulling roughly a second and a half clear over the course of a single lap, according to the outlet. Fernandez had been riding with two fingers fractured in the previous day's crash.
Marc Marquez ran at the front early, battling Martin, then Acosta, and later Ogura, in what Corriere della Sera described as an inconsistent race. He was overtaken by Acosta and eventually finished sixth, also behind Ogura.
Pedro Acosta of KTM took fifth, crossing the line just ahead of Marquez. Alex Marquez was seventh, Fabio Di Giannantonio eighth and Fabio Quartararo ninth. Enea Bastianini rounded out the top ten.
The race also saw falls from Francesco Bagnaia and Jack Miller, both noted in Corriere della Sera's live coverage. La Gazzetta dello Sport's rider ratings described Bagnaia's crash as a "4" performance.
Ogura's late charge stood out. He fought Acosta for fourth place, trading the position in a back-and-forth battle before securing it, Corriere della Sera reported. He finished 9.378 seconds behind Bezzecchi.
What the riders said
Bezzecchi, speaking to Sky Sport, said the win had been his target since returning from injury and dedicated the result to his team, his family and friends at home. He said the team had never stopped fighting through difficult moments, according to Corriere della Sera.
Fernandez described the physical difficulty of racing with a fractured hand. He told Sky Sport he had considered not starting, discovered that morning he had two broken fingers, and told no one, adjusting his braking technique because he could not use the finger he normally relies on. He dedicated the second-place finish to his family.
Martin, who called the race physically demanding in its closing laps, said Bezzecchi and Fernandez had simply been stronger across the weekend. He predicted an exciting championship fight ahead, per Corriere della Sera.
The championship picture
Martin's lead is now two points over Marquez. Corriere della Sera noted a statistical oddity in his position: no rider had previously led the championship after 17 races with only a single victory to his name that season.
Bezzecchi's win moved him closer in the standings. He now sits 46 points behind the leader, the report stated.
Sportmediaset reported that Bezzecchi received his winner's award at Mandalika from Erick Thohir.
The next round will show whether Aprilia's pace advantage carries over and whether Martin can convert his narrow lead into a more durable one, with Marquez still within a single race result of the top spot.
