For the first time in MotoGP history, Aprilia filled the top four positions at the chequered flag as Marco Bezzecchi managed to keep his title challenge alive.
Round 17 of the 2026 World Championship took place in the extreme heat of the Mandalika International Circuit on the island of Lombok in Indonesia. Indeed, the demands of Mandalika are so high that before the race even began, we had the withdrawal of Aleix Espargaro due to "ongoing physical discomfort" following his return from injuries sustained at the start of the year. Pole sitter Raul Fernandez was also a doubt to start, following his finger injury in yesterday's turn one collision with Marco Bezzecchi and throughout the build-up, nursed his right index finger as he prepared to race.
As it was, Fernandez left most concerns behind him as the lights went out and he launched perfectly into the lead. In scenes reminiscent of the sprint race yesterday, Bezzecchi went in slightly hot, but this time Fernandez was wise to the fact, let him go past and then slid up his inside to smoothly take the lead with no major first corner dramas this time round.
Last year's winner Aldeguer was unable to put in a repeat performance, and it fell to him to be the first retiree as he fell on his own on lap 2. At the front, Martin started strongly, passing Di Giannantonio off the line and then taking Marc Marquez (in his 300th grand prix start) on lap 3. However, by the time he had achieved this, Fernandez and Bezzecchi had gapped the chasing pack by a second and from there the prospect of him chasing down the leaders was slim. He settled into what would be a rather solitary race in 3rd place - not able to stick with the front two, but at the same time, in a different league to those behind him.
By lap 7 Pedro Acosta was putting Marc Marquez under serious pressure as they fought for 4th place. He eventually did make the pressure tell as he made the pass, which also had the effect of lifting Martin back into the lead in the world championship. At this point in the race, Martin would probably have been happy for it to finish as it was, with his main title rival behind him on the track and Bezzecchi looking like 2nd was the most he could achieve today. But Bez was far from finished. He was relentless, as he kept piling on the pressure behind Fernandez, knowing full well that the Spaniard's injured finger must be causing him considerable pain by this point. What was really impressive from the top 2, but from Fernandez especially, was how he how the pair of them continued to pull away from Jorge Martin in 3rd. Lapping at times a second faster than the rest of the chasing pack, the Aprilia was the class of the field by a clear margin today.
On lap 13 and possibly due to tyre pressure related issues for the KTM, Marquez got back past Acosta. It appeared that Acosta knew he could not catch Martin, gave up the chase and slipped in behind Marquez to get his front tyre into the required window. By lap 15, it was clear that the KTM still had the pace advantage on the Ducati and, for one final time, Acosta made the move stick. The old master and the new apprentice put on the most entertaining battle of the race, going back and forth and laying down markers for next year, when they both race in red.
Then came the decisive moment of the race. Having sized up his prey for 19 laps, Bez made the move and made it well. He dived cleanly for the inside line into turn one, pushed Fernandez a little wide and left him for dust. Immediately Bezzecchi had a gap of 0.8 seconds, by the end of the lap he led by 1.5 and sailed he off into the Lombok sunset. Your heart had to go out to Fernandez - he had put up a hell of a fight and through no fault of his own, just could not battle through the pain anymore. He will be bitterly disappointed to leave this grand prix weekend without the win having looked a class apart from early on Friday.
In the battle for 4th place, at the end of lap 21 Ai Ogura, the master rear tyre whisperer, passed Marquez to give Aprilia the top four positions at the chequered flag for the first time in their history. This was also the 300th win for an Italian manufacturer in the premier class.
The net result is that with five rounds to go, Martin leads Marquez by 2 points with Bez a further 44 points behind. Next stop on the calendar a completely different challenge is expected in Australia where the weather should be much cooler and possibly wetter. This will be the final race at Phillip Island before MotoGP's move to Adelaide in 2027, let's hope we send it off in style.
