CONNECTIVITY FAILURE PUSHES BACK INDONESIAN MOTOGP PRACTICE

A connectivity failure at Mandalika disrupted Friday’s MotoGP schedule, delaying the Indonesian Grand Prix’s hour-long Practice session after officials lost access to the stewards’ room and timekeeping systems.

Moto2 FP2 was stopped by a red flag with 12 minutes and 27 seconds remaining. Race Director Graham Webber said officials were dealing with “connectivity issues affecting the stewards’ room and timekeeping” and were working to restore operations. The problem was resolved at 8:12am BST, and MotoGP Practice, originally scheduled for 8am, was moved to 8:35am BST.

The interruption followed a busy morning on track. Marco Bezzecchi topped FP1 for Aprilia with a 1m30.132s lap, putting him 0.237 seconds ahead of Marc Marquez on the factory Ducati. Championship leader Jorge Martin, riding the other works Aprilia, was third. Martin and Marquez are separated by just two points in the standings as they arrive at Mandalika.

Bezzecchi is seeking to revive his fading title challenge, while Marquez faces a difficult record at the circuit: he has yet to finish a grand prix there. Last year, he suffered a serious shoulder injury in a collision at Mandalika.

Three riders crashed during FP1: LCR Honda’s Diogo Moreira, Trackhouse Aprilia’s Ai Ogura and Gresini’s Fermin Aldeguer. Aldeguer returns as the defending race winner after taking a dominant victory in Indonesia last year.

The latest disruption adds to Mandalika’s history of event-related problems. The circuit’s inaugural MotoGP race in 2022 was affected by asphalt issues, which forced organisers to shorten the grand prix.