Jorge Martin leads Marc Marquez in Mandalika MotoGP warm-up, Bagnaia 14th
Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez separated by 0.050s in warm-up for the Indonesian MotoGP.
MotoGP title leader Jorge Martin fought back from his Sprint misery by leading morning warm-up for the Indonesian MotoGP at Mandalika.
The pole qualifier Jorge Martin saw his world championship advantage over Francesco Bagnaia halved to 12 points after crashing from the lead on the opening lap of the Sprint.
But he was back to his best this morning, when all riders were now on the medium rear tyre, to hold P1 for most of the ten-minute session.
Marc Marquez, third behind factory Ducati riders Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini in the Sprint, briefly moved ahead of Martin before the Pramac rider responded by 0.050s on his final lap.
Gresini rider Marquez will need another rocket start to gain as many places as possible from 12th on the grid.
Martin’s team-mate Franco Morbidelli and GASGAS rookie Pedro Acosta were third and fourth, with Raul Fernandez – 19th and last in the Sprint - a surprise fifth for Trackhouse Aprilia.
Bastianini, who closed to just 0.1s from Bagnaia at the end of the Sprint, was eighth this morning, with the reigning double world champion just 14th (+0.648s).
Bagnaia has been losing out in the final sector of the lap.
Michelin reports that both the soft and hard front tyres are again viable options for this afternoon’s full-length race.
However, for the rear tyre, while ‘some riders are considering fitting a soft tyre’ as used by all riders in the Sprint ‘Michelin does not recommend this option, which is clearly not designed to provide high consistency over 27 laps on a very hot and demanding track’.
Instead, the medium rear is the suggested choice, and duly used by all riders during warm-up. Martin, Bastianini and Bagnaia paired it with the hard front this morning.
The likes of Marc Marquez and Morbidelli ran the soft front in warm-up but Marquez later confirmed he will probably switch to the hard for the grand prix.
Front row starter Marco Bezzecchi and VR46 team-mate Fabio di Giannantonio are using their special red and white livery for Sunday.
Bezzecchi narrowly avoided disaster when he came close to hitting the back of race leader Bagnaia in the Sprint.
Still sore from a fast Saturday crash, Alex Marquez was the only faller in warm-up, after losing the rear of his GP23.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
