LOMBOK: Francesco Bagnaia won a dramatic Indonesia MotoGP sprint race on Saturday, capitalizing on an early crash by championship leader Jorge Martin to halve the Spaniard’s lead to 12 points at the top of the standings.

Pramac rider Martin slid off on the first lap to gift reigning champion Bagnaia the race lead in a blow to his championship hopes with Sunday’s grand prix and five race weekends to go.

“Everybody knows how important it was to gain points, we gained 12 (points). So thanks to the mistake of Jorge, we are close again,” Bagnaia told reporters. Bagnaia’s teammate Enea Bastianini finished second, while six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez of Gresini completed the podium in third.

Martin had secured pole position at the sweltering Mandalika track on Lombok island with a lap record in qualifying but could only claw his way back to 10th place after the costly incident. A win in the sprint would have guaranteed Martin the championship lead leaving heading into next week’s Japan MotoGP, the first of five remaining race weekends in the 2024 season.

Bagnaia can now overtake Martin in the championship depending on results in Sunday’s GP. Bastianini battled with Marquez for second place but held on to finish behind his teammate. The Italian rider, who will be replaced by Marquez at Ducati’s factory team next season, is 50 points behind Martin ahead of Sunday’s GP. “I am happy. After I bring my pace and levelled up, I was a bit faster. In the last lap I tried to catch Pecco (Bagnaia) but the gap was important. The second position is okay,” Bastianini told reporters.

Marquez surge

Marquez, who has pulled himself back into the title picture in recent weeks, made an incredible early surge from 12th to finish third after crashing twice in final qualifying earlier in the day and failing to register a lap time. He is now 53 points behind Martin in the championship standings.

“The Q2 is a nightmare for me at the moment. But still we keep working and try to understand what is going on,” the Spaniard told reporters. Marco Bezzecchi, who survived a crash in qualifying to secure a front-row place on the grid, finished fourth. Red Bull GasGas rider Pedro Acosta completed the front-row line-up but could only finish sixth.

Aprilia’s Miguel Oliveira however was ruled out of the race weekend and left a doubt for next week’s Japan MotoGP after fracturing his right wrist in Friday morning’s free practice session. MotoGP returned to Indonesia in 2022 for the first time since 1997, at a new venue on the resort island of Lombok. — AFP