Jorge Martin seems intent on doing everything in his power to continue to put pressure on Pecco Bagnaia. The Prima Pramac Racing rider also started the weekend of the Indonesian Grand Prix on the right foot, immediately getting everyone in line in the first free practice session, despite having initially struggled to find the feeling with the front of his Ducati.
The Madrilenian, fresh from 5 victories (including Sprints) in the last three weekends, stopped the clock with a time of 1’31″811, about eight tenths away from the Mandalika track record. However, it is a very interesting performance if you think that the track has been resurfaced and therefore needs to be rubberized again.
Behind him, the Aprilias also started the weekend quite well, with Maverick Vinales leading for most of the session, only to be overtaken by “Martinator” by just 102 thousandths in the final. That the driver from Roses was particularly brilliant can be seen from the fact that Aleix Espargaro’s twin RS-GP follows him in third place, but 434 thousandths further back.
Among the nice surprises of the morning, Franco Morbidelli must certainly be mentioned, who managed to bring his Yamaha to fourth position, albeit more than seven tenths away from the top. But the comparison with teammate Fabio Quartararo is certainly very positive, because “El Diablo” is 12th, even if the gap between the two M1s is less than three tenths.
If there is a performance that went beyond expectations, however, it is that of Marco Bezzecchi: the driver of the Mooney VR46 fractured his right collarbone last Saturday at the Ranch, but for now it doesn’t seem to be a big problem, given that he managed to lift his Ducati even into fifth position. The Rimini native underwent a “hard test” on the operated collarbone, because he also ended up on the ground at turn 11, getting up without any major problems. Therefore, it is unlikely that doctors can decide to stop him after the review at the end of the shift.
Behind him is Pecco Bagnaia who did a comparative work with two different settings, alternating between the standard one of his Desmosedici GP and one created specifically for the Lombok island track by the Ducati engineers. However, the reigning world champion ultimately closed with a gap of 759 thousandths, ahead of the two official KTMs of Jack Miller and Brad Binder.
In the top 10 there is room for two other riders returning from injury, namely Enea Bastianini and Luca Marini. The official Ducati rider had good sensations in his left hand, which was the thing that worried him the most, but contrary to his expectations he struggled with his left ankle, both fractured in Barcelona. That of the Mooney VR46, who like his teammate is recovering from a collarbone operation after the accident at the start of the Sprint in India, is the first to have suffered more than a second of delay.
Just further back is Fabio Di Giannantonio with the Gresini Racing Ducati, followed by the aforementioned Quartararo: the six Italian riders, therefore, are all included in the top 11 positions. To find the first of the Hondas you have to go down to 13th place, occupied by the Japanese Takaaki Nakagami, who preceded a Marc Marquez in his first separate race at home in HRC, after the announcement of his move to Gresini’s Ducati next year . It must be said, however, that the eight-time world champion is just three and a half tenths behind the fourth position.
Among the riders who crashed was his brother Alex, 20th, who crashed at turn 1. The Gresini Racing rider, like Bezzecchi, doesn’t seem to have had any problems with his fractured ribs in India. Also noteworthy is the fall of Miguel Oliveira, who precedes the rider from Cervera on the Aprilia RNF. The Portuguese lost the front at turn 11, but he also resumed the session without any major difficulties.
#MotoGP #Mandalika #Free #Practice #Martin #starts #strong #Bezzecchi #amazes #5th