MARQUEZ SEES APRILIA AHEAD AS BAGNAIA TAKES EIGHTH AND OGURA FOURTH

Alex Marquez left Saturday’s Mandalika sprint with fifth place and a measured sense of progress. Starting eighth for Gresini Ducati, he benefited from rivals’ misfortunes but also maintained a steady pace, finishing 3.4 seconds behind his brother Marc, the winner.

After a crash-filled qualifying session, Alex had prioritised staying upright. “Luckily, it was a pretty straightforward Saturday,” he said. “Qualifying wasn’t particularly good, but at least I didn’t crash. After seeing what felt like ten crashes in Q1, I told myself to stay calmer and be more patient. That’s what I did.”

Two Aprilia riders, Raul Fernandez and Marco Bezzecchi, fell at the first corner, while Pedro Acosta later had to serve a long-lap penalty for repeated track-limit infringements. Alex acknowledged that those incidents helped him move up the order. “Starting from eighth wasn’t easy. I was also a bit lucky with the problems for the others at Turn 1 and then Acosta’s long-lap penalty. In the end, it was fifth, with a good rhythm. That’s positive. I took it calmly and tried not to make mistakes, especially big ones that could cause problems.”

Marc’s sprint victory came after Jorge Martin, who had led, was forced to give up the position because his front tyre pressure was too low. Alex was pleased for his brother, while clarifying that it was a sprint win, not a Grand Prix podium at Mandalika. “So far, he hasn’t had a Grand Prix podium at Mandalika, but he has a sprint win.” He added: “Although he wasn’t the fastest on track, he managed the situation in the best possible way. He’s Marc Marquez and he can do these things.”

Sunday brought a very different result. Marc finished sixth, the leading Ducati, as four Aprilias and Acosta finished ahead. Bezzecchi won ahead of Fernandez, Martin and Ai Ogura. Marc lost the championship lead to Martin, but judged the weekend by the combined points haul: “If you’d told me on Thursday that over the whole weekend we’d lose only three points to Bezzecchi and score the same number as Martin, that would have been a dream. And that’s exactly what we did.” He called it a strong weekend on what he considers one of Ducati’s most difficult circuits, despite struggling in the second half of the Grand Prix.

Ogura, who had crashed on Friday and missed direct entry to Q2, started ninth and finished fourth, completing Aprilia’s top-four sweep. He had to pass Alex Marquez, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Acosta and Marc, and said Acosta’s tactic of dropping back before attacking again made the contest feel like a genuine duel. Despite moving ahead of Acosta to fourth in the championship, Ogura was dissatisfied: “At the end I was still the slowest Aprilia rider.” He said the team had not found the best setup early on, though the middle of the race went well. “I have to be honest: even with that, more than fourth wasn’t possible.” He said his aim had been to gain positions, not specifically beat Acosta.

Marc said the rear tyre deteriorated significantly, while the front remained “perfect”. He eased off at Turn 10 as a deliberate choice, explaining: “I didn’t want to take a risk, because there were still 12 laps to go.” He lacked confidence to brake late there and felt there was more to lose than gain. He also knew Acosta and Ogura would pass him, and prioritised a consistent pace over fighting. “I had the feeling I could do about the same pace as Martin for a few laps, but for ten laps, like yesterday in the sprint, not for 27.” He said Acosta’s tyre-pressure issue affected the race’s flow, while Di Giannantonio was the one rival he thought he might fight on equal machinery.

Francesco Bagnaia finished eighth after starting tenth, around ten seconds behind Marc. He lost touch with Fermin Aldeguer and spent much of the 13-lap sprint riding alone before Fabio Quartararo pressured him late. “Luckily Fabio came, and I had to do something,” Bagnaia said; Quartararo finished just behind him.

Bagnaia blamed his slow start on failing to get enough energy into the rear tyre, which only began working properly after seven laps. He then matched Alex and Acosta’s pace, but they were about three seconds ahead. Grip remained his main concern, and the team planned to seek more rear grip for Sunday. “My feeling isn’t how I’d like it to be. I’ll try to get the maximum out of it,” he said. He named Malaysia as the remaining circuit he most wanted to revisit. Bagnaia had 166 championship points, three more than Alex.

Alex cautioned against reading Ducati’s sprint win as proof that the gap to Aprilia had closed. He believes Ducati is around last year’s level, perhaps marginally better, while Aprilia retains an advantage with the current tyre construction, particularly in the second sector and, to a lesser extent, the third. “We’re closer, but not close enough,” he said.