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Raul Fernández claimed his first MotoGP pole, then watched Turn 1 end his Sprint before the opening lap was done. Marc Márquez turned that disorder into victory and a four-point championship lead over Jorge Martín.
Photograph: MotoGP official mediaMandalika gave Raul Fernández the fastest lap of his MotoGP life, then took away the race he had earned from pole before the first lap was complete. In the same afternoon, Marc Márquez turned the opening-lap wreckage into a Sprint victory and a four-point championship lead. The Saturday story begins with one rider’s first pole and ends with another standing above a title rival whose lead had vanished in the space of a few corners.
Fernández set a 1:28.852 in Q2, the quickest lap of the weekend and his first pole position in the premier class. Marco Bezzecchi was 0.109 seconds behind, giving Aprilia the first two places on the grid. Fabio Di Giannantonio completed the front row for VR46. Márquez qualified fourth, 0.087 seconds away from the front row, with Jorge Martín alongside him in fifth.
The pole arrived on a circuit where Fernández had already found a new limit. On Friday he lowered the Mandalika lap record in Practice and finished ahead of Bezzecchi and Martín. The record made him a direct Q2 qualifier and changed the tone of his weekend. Saturday’s pole made the promise official, the result of one fast lap delivered when the whole grid was trying to find a clean path through the final session.
Bezzecchi came close enough to keep the pole under pressure. Di Giannantonio’s third place put a second manufacturer on the front row, while the championship contenders were gathered on the second row. Márquez and Martín had been separated by one point at the summit before the Sprint. Their grid positions placed them together, with six riders ahead and the short race ready to magnify every opening.
The start brought the field into Turn 1 with the front four close together. Fernández and Bezzecchi raced side by side, while Márquez and Di Giannantonio also went up the inside. The group ran slightly wide. A chain of small movements followed, Di Giannantonio sat the bike up, Márquez had to respond, and Bezzecchi found himself with nowhere to go. Both Aprilia riders crashed out, and both were reported to be okay.
Pole had given Fernández the first choice of line. The crowded corner took that advantage away before he could settle into the race. Bezzecchi’s retirement removed a second Aprilia from the immediate fight and altered the shape of the Sprint at the front. Behind the incident, Martín emerged through the apex and took the lead. Márquez was second, with Di Giannantonio and Ai Ogura among the riders trying to turn the first lap into a foothold.
The moment had consequences beyond two damaged bikes. It left the pole-sitter watching from the side of the circuit and asked the rest of the field to process a new order at speed. For a short race, that is a sharp change of plan. For the two title rivals, it meant a direct contest began with Martín in front and Márquez close enough to study every move.
Martín opened a gap of more than a second as the laps passed. Márquez stayed close enough to remain part of the race, but the Aprilia had begun to look comfortable at the head of the field. The title leader seemed in position to collect the 12 points for victory. The question became whether the Ducati could keep the pressure on until the final stages.
Four laps from the finish, Martín suddenly sat up and lost more than two seconds across the lap. Márquez moved into the lead. The reason was not made clear in the official race report, so the visible fact was the sudden change of pace and the gap it created. Martín recovered and started to close again, bringing the contest back towards the leading Ducati.
Pedro Acosta received a long-lap penalty for track limits, costing him time in the battle behind. Meanwhile, Ogura and Di Giannantonio moved into the podium picture. Martín was still close enough to challenge Márquez, but his margin over the riders behind had disappeared. The Sprint had become a race between the title fight at the front and a fresh podium fight just behind it.
With three laps to go, Martín drew closer to Márquez. He then ran wide at Turn 15 while recovering from a save, dropping out of the podium places. Ogura and Di Giannantonio were left to chase the leader. On the final lap, Ogura cut the gap but could not reach a passing distance. Márquez took the chequered flag for his first Sprint win at Mandalika.
Ogura finished second, with Di Giannantonio third on his birthday. Martín came home fourth, ahead of Alex Márquez. Acosta recovered to sixth after his long-lap penalty. Fermín Aldeguer, Francesco Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo completed the points positions.
| Session | Position | Rider |
|---|---|---|
| Qualifying | 1 | Raul Fernández · 1:28.852 |
| Qualifying | 2 | Marco Bezzecchi · +0.109 seconds |
| Qualifying | 3 | Fabio Di Giannantonio |
| Sprint | 1 | Marc Márquez |
| Sprint | 2 and 3 | Ai Ogura · Fabio Di Giannantonio |
The Sprint gave Márquez the lead in the championship by four points over Martín. It also gave Ogura a strong result and left Fernández and Bezzecchi with the chance to return after their opening-corner crashes. The main Grand Prix will award more points and give the field a longer distance over which to recover or press an advantage.
Fernández has a pole lap and a new record from Friday, even as Saturday ended without the race he qualified to lead. Márquez has the win and the championship lead, but the weekend is still moving. Martín has already shown how quickly the front can change at Mandalika. The two title contenders will begin Sunday on the second row, with the Aprilias of Fernández and Bezzecchi back in the conversation.
The Saturday record belongs to both the lap and the response. Fernández claimed the first pole of his MotoGP career. Márquez kept his bike upright through an opening lap that removed the pole-sitter and the second-placed qualifier, then stayed composed through the closing exchange. The circuit offered one rider a new beginning and another a new lead. It has left the title fight closer to the edge of its seat.
