Miguel Oliveira’s race at the MotoGP Indonesian GP was compromised by a collision with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) when he was running in eighth place. The CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team rider went off the track after the contact and dropped down the standings, managing to recover only to 12th. Meanwhile, the South African rider received his second penalty in the race.

The Portuguese rider said that without the incident he could have finished in the top ten: ‘The race anyway, I made a wrong rear tyre choice, but still I think I could have a top ten result. I just got a little help by Brad to go into the gravel, but that’s it. I think he got a penalty for it’.

Despite believing the rules were followed, Oliveira suggested a penalty system similar to the double yellow card in football: ‘I think the FIM stewards followed the protocol for sure, but I think if you get the same penalty twice during the race you should have a little bit stronger penalties, because it pays off somehow. It would be like the second yellow card in a football match: you get a red one and you are out. Probably there are something that can be improved in protocol. Anyway, it shouldn’t happen during the race that you get a penalty for doing such a manouver, but still in extreme cases like Sunday in Indonesia it could be not too bad to think about it’.

O conteúdo Miguel Oliveira suggests penalties similar to the ‘second yellow card in football’ aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Jorge Martín ended a very positive period of his MotoGP season with a crash in the Indonesian GP race while leading comfortably. As a result, he relinquished the championship lead to Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati).

The manager of some riders of the field, Carlo Pernat, told GPOne.com that the Prima Pramac Spanish rider may have shown signs of pressure but also noted that the tire choices he made might not have been the most appropriate:

– They said Bagnaia was under pressure, but apparently Martín was the rider under pressure. His crash was very stupid. I think the wrong tyre choice also played a role in this mistake. A lot of riders chose the wrong ones. It was a race for the hard compound, most chose the medium, those with the soft had problems.

O conteúdo ‘Jorge Martín’s crash was very stupid’ – Carlo Pernat aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Álex Rins finally returned to competition at the MotoGP Indonesian GP and achieved a strong result after more than four months of absence. He finished in ninth place, matching his second-best result of the year.

Speaking to the official website of the championship, the Spaniard from LCR Honda admitted he was physically drained: ‘I’m done, honestly. I’m super tired after this long and though race with really hot conditions. The track was a bit slippery, but after 13, 14 laps, I started to struggle a lot with the leg – because the anesthesia goes out and I started to change a little bit my riding style to don’t suffer that much’.

After the efforts in his rehabilitation over the last few months, Rins gives an even bigger importance to this result: ‘During the race I thought in all the hours we did at home – physiotherapist, gym, hours and hours watching MotoGP. And I think this race was the strenght that we put to finish the race. This, for us, is like a podium’.

O conteúdo Álex Rins’ emotional ninth place in Indonesia: ‘Is like a podium’ aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Francesco Bagnaia returned to victory at the MotoGP Indonesian GP. With Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati) having retired from the main race, the Ducati rider also reclaimed the top spot in the World Championship.

Asked in a press conference whether the win was more important because it helped him regain the championship lead or because it ended a negative period, the Italian rider replied: ‘Both. From my side, this victory means many things. It means we were so competitive again. I was missing it a bit because I was always struggling, so being again at this performance was very, very important. Winning is always very important. Then in a moment when Jorge was out, the main thing was to take the most point available and we did it’.

On the other hand, Bagnaia emphasized that the victory in Mandalika was a confidence boost for the entire Ducati team: ‘From my side after the crash in Barcelona wasn’t an easy period. And honestly, winning this race is giving us a lot of motivation, not just for me, but also for my team. They are trying always to give me the maximum possible and also this weekend we manage to improve a lot our situation. In the warm-up we improved a bit and in the race even more’.

O conteúdo ‘This victory means many things’ – Francesco Bagnaia aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

In the final stages of the MotoGP Indonesian GP, Maverick Viñales chose to slightly ease his pace to defend against the approaching Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha). However, he couldn’t mount an attack on the leader, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati).

The Aprilia rider stated in a press conference that his strategy was the most appropriate, as it allowed him to conserve his tyre and keep Quartararo behind. He believes that even without the need for defense, the result would not have been different:

– I think I did the correct choice, to slow down a little bit. Also because if you are behind someone so close the tyre temperature go up so much and you destroy the tyre. So, I needed to try to understand what was the limit and I understood really well what was my limit of lap time to don’t destroy the tyre: it was 1m31s medium. I could keep Fabio behind. Of course when I saw Fabio closer I started to brake a little bit later and to stop a little bit more the bike to make him not make corner speed and be able to put the bike on the side to brake. Like this I could also save a little bit the rear tyre. However, I think without Fabio behind maybe I would push that much in the last five laps, but then the rear would drop. So, my result would be the same.

O conteúdo ‘I did the correct choice, to slow down a little bit’ – Maverick Viñales aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Fabio Quartararo was competitive at the MotoGP Indonesian GP, getting a podium with the third place. This isn’t his best result of 2023, but the Monster Energy Yamaha rider sees this as the best podium of the year.

In a press conference, the Frenchman said that being close to the first two places thanks to his pure performance made this podium particularly special:

– For me this is the best podium of the year because especially in India I finished eight or nine seconds from [Marco] Bezzecchi, in Austin I made the podium, but I was a little bit too far from the winners. And here I can say I really recovered to the top two, I really catch them and I did it by my speed, not with consequences of the race. This is by far the best podium of the year.

O conteúdo Why Fabio Quartararo considers the podium in Indonesia was the best of the season aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Aleix Espargaró finished no higher than tenth in the MotoGP Indonesian GP, unlike his Aprilia teammate, who secured second place. The choice of the soft rear tire significantly hampered his chances.

The Spaniard said the tyre started to lose performance earlier than he expected: ‘Actually it was earlier than I expected. I expected to at least do the first 18, 20 laps in decent pace, but on the lap ten I started to feel a drop. It’s a shame, really, really a shame, because I had a really good speed during the weekend’.

After making the same mistake for the second time in 2023, Espargaró believes that with a different tyre choice, he could have at least competed for a spot on the podium: ‘Now it’s stupid to say I could win. I felt that I was very, very fast and strong all the weekend. And with the medium tyre maybe I wouldn’t win, but I would fight for the podium. And it was my mistake; it’s the second time this season – I did it in Germany and I did it here. I’m very sorry’.

O conteúdo ‘Now it’s stupid to say I could win’ – Aleix Espargaró aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

With Ducati already crowned as constructors’ champions, the MotoGP team’s championship title is still up for grabs, and the Mooney VR46 Racing Team closed in on the top spot at the Indonesian GP.

The Italian team accumulated 15 more points than the leading Prima Pramac in Mandalika, reducing the gap to 63 points. Ducati is in third place, 98 points behind the leaders and with a 46-point lead over Red Bull KTM.

Aprilia, in fifth place, is now just four points behind the team immediately ahead. Further down the standings, Repsol Honda remains last, in 11th place, four points behind GasGas Tech3.

As for the constructors, Ducati had already clinched the title after the Indonesian sprint race, ending the GP with a 244-point lead over KTM. Aprilia is in third place, 261 points behind. Yamaha has moved up to fourth place, leaving Honda in last, trailing by three points.

Standings for the constructors and team championships:

O conteúdo VR46 closer to Pramac in the fight for the team’s championship aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

In what was his second podium in the span of three rounds, Fabio Quartararo finished the MotoGP Indonesian GP in third place. The rider battled for a top-three finish throughout the race in Mandalika after starting from fourth.

The Frenchman from Monster Energy Yamaha mentioned in a press conference that it was a good race for him, as he managed to overcome the difficulties with the rear tire to have a stronger final part:

– It was great, and especially in the second part of the race. To be honest, already in the warm-up with the medium the feeling wasn’t good – especially the first laps. In the warm-up lap I pushed really a lot on the rear tyre to really make it spin, because I was struggling a lot to warm the tyre. Then, after two or three laps it was OK, but our pace in the second part of the race was good. Unfortunately I couldn’t try an overtake, but I think it was a great race for us, I think I was 3.5s from Pecco [Bagnaia] at one stage of the race and I finished really close. So, it was great for us.

O conteúdo ‘I think it was a great race for us’ – Fabio Quartararo aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Francesco Bagnaia ended a winless streak at the MotoGP Indonesian GP. The moments were so meaningful for the Ducati rider that on the last lap, he considerably slowed down and took the opportunity to savor the victory.

The Italian explained in a press conference that he was enjoying that lap after a difficult stage of the season for him: ‘I was really enjoying the lap, because after Barcelona it was really difficult. It wasn’t an easy period, we had a moment in which we were struggling to have results and I was always thinking that we were deserving a result like this and we were pushing a lot to have it, so I was really enjoying the lap’.

Bagnaia then explaind his approach to that last lap: ‘I started the lap with 0.7s, I arrived to the sector two with 0.6s, so I said: «I can do the last part of the circuit more relaxed». And maybe it was too much, because looking at the videos I was not thinking that they were close like this. I did turn 15 and 16 very, very slow. I started to brake very early, without forcing on the brake just to don’t have any minimum moment and that’s it. I was just on control’.

O conteúdo ‘I was enjoying the last lap, because after Barcelona it wasn’t an easy period’ – Francesco Bagnaia aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.