Marini crushes lap record to take pole, Bagnaia 13th

Having already set a new circuit record to get through Q1, VR46 rider Marini found yet more time in the final segment of qualifying as he became the first rider to break the 1m30s barrier with a time of 1m29.978s.

He beat Aprilia duo Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro, both of whom having been rapid all weekend on the factory RS-GP.

The two Aprilia riders were quick from the very beginning in Q2, with Vinales laying the first proper marker with a 1m30.598s before Espargaro went even quicker with a 1m30.501s.

When the second set of runs began, Espargaro posted a rapid time of 1m30.303s – fractionally quicker than Marini’s Q1 benchmark – before Vinales further showcased the pace of the Aprilia with a 1m30.009s.

But with just over two minutes left in the session, Marini ended the party of the Noale-based manufacturer, scoring his maiden premier class pole with the first-ever 1m29s lap at Mandalika.

Vinales was unable to go any faster at the end of the session and settled for second, while Espargaro solidified third position after improving to a 1m30.132s.

Fabio Quartararo took the best-of-the-rest spot in fourth on the factory Yamaha, albeit over half a second off pole, with Brad Binder another two tenths behind on the fastest KTM.

Pramac’s Jorge Martin, who goes into today’s sprint just three points behind Bagnaia, was unable to capitalise on his championship rival’s troubles and qualified a distant sixth, 0.764s off the pace.

Martin suffered a crash just four minutes in the session at Turn 16 and had to mount on his second bike, with his best effort of 1m30.742s only good enough for a spot on the outside of the second row.

Fabio di Giannantonio qualified a solid seventh on the sole remaining Gresini bike ahead of Honda’s Marc Marquez, the rider who will replace him at the satellite Ducati team in 2024.

Marquez qualified almost nine tenths off the pace, just beating the VR46 Ducati of Marco Bezzecchi, who also suffered an early crash on his first Q2 run. 

KTM’s Jack Miller, returning Enea Bastianini on the Ducati and RNF Aprilia rider Miguel Oliveira rounded out the top 12.

Bagnaia will line up 13th on the grid, his worst starting position since Portugal last year when he crashed in Q1, after failing to progress into the second leg of qualifying.

The Ducati rider set a lap time of 1m30.626s on his second run, which provisionally put him second behind Marini, but he was knocked out by a late effort from team-mate Bastianinni.

Missing out on a Q2 spot by 0.099s, the Italian will head the fifth row of the grid, where he will be joined by Pramac’s Johann Zarco and the Yamaha of Franco Morbidelli.

Zarco narrowly beat Morbidelli for 14th despite suffering a crash at Turn 11 in the final minute of Q1.

Tech3 duo Pol Espargaro and Augusto Fernandez will start 16th and 18th respectively, separated by the RNF Aprilia of Raul Fernandez, while the field will be propped up by three Hondas, the factory RC213V of Joan Mir and the satellite bikes of LCR team-mates Takaaki Nakagami and Alex Rins.

MotoGP Indonesian GP – Qualifying results:

Q2 results:

Q1 results: