Aurélie Sacchelli, Media365, published on Saturday September 28, 2024 at 9:48 a.m.
Francesco Bagnaia took twelve points from Jorge Martin by winning the sprint race of the Indonesian GP, while his rival fell on the first lap and failed to finish in the points. Johann Zarco finished eighth and Fabien Quartararo twelfth.
This end of the MotoGP season is completely crazy, and it’s really difficult to predict who will be crowned world champion at the end of the last Grand Prix in a month and a half in Valencia. Last Sunday, Jorge Martin took big points by finishing second in Emilia-Romagna while Francesco Bagnaia crashed and did not finish the race. The Italian was therefore 24 points ahead at the top of the standings. This Saturday, in Indonesia, Martin started in pole position in the sprint race and could hope to widen the gap. But he crashed at the end of the first lap, in turn 16, while he was in the lead! The Pramac rider quickly got back on his bike, but in last position. And despite the retirements of Augusto Fernandez and Joan Mir, and a comeback over the laps, Jorge Martin could not do better than tenth, just outside the points. Meanwhile, Francesco Bagnaia, who had a great start to climb from fourth to second place before the first turn on this Mandalika track which exceeded 50°C, won the race, and the twelve points that go with it. ! The double world champion experienced some scares throughout the thirteen laps, notably when Marco Bezzecchi, then second, missed his braking and almost touched him, or when he made a small error at the end of the race, which allowed for Marc Marquez to get closer. But the main thing is assured for the Ducati rider, he is twelve points behind Martin!
First for Zarco, disappointment for Quartararo
In the end, Francesco Bagnaia won with a lead of 107 thousandths over his future ex-teammate Enea Bastianini and 1″701 over Marc Marquez, who started 12th but had a fantastic start. On the French side, Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco were left 6th and 7th and could hope for big points But only Zarco gleaned them: two by finishing eighth. Despite a bad start, the Honda driver managed to overtake several drivers to get his first points in the sprint race. As for Quartararo, present in the Top 8 for half of the race, he then found himself in a large peloton, and several drivers overtook him, so that he only finished twelfth. But he will have another chance on Sunday during the GP, where this time the first fifteen will be rewarded with points.
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