At one point, defending champion Pecco Bagnaia led the world championship by 66 points this year, but since Misano the tide has turned: Jorge Martin from the Prima Pramac Ducati team won both races in Italy, he came first and second in India, and won in Japan He was the fastest twice and also in the sprint in Indonesia on Saturday afternoon.
Before the Grand Prix on Sunday, Martin is seven points ahead of Bagnaia in the overall standings and has a much better starting position from sixth place on the grid than the Italian from grid position 13th.
Martin has been riding a wave of success since the beginning of September – something extraordinary given the current level of performance in the MotoGP class.
“He flies, it’s unbelievable,” says Aprilia ace Aleix Espargaro about his compatriot. “He’s doing everything right now, he’s found the perfect balance. For the first three months of the championship, Bagnaia was in this zone. Getting into that zone isn’t the hard part. What’s difficult is being in it for ten months – it’s almost impossible. If you can only finish fifth, then you have to finish fifth – not tenth. That’s the important thing. Now he is unstoppable. At the same time, you can never say never when it comes to Pecco. On Sunday it will only be a matter of getting as many points as possible for him. Because I don’t think he can close the gap to Martin, Vinales and me. But then he goes to Australia and Thailand, where he will be very strong. And he drives for the factory team, which has many good engineers. Nobody should say that Jorge is already champion.”
Jorge Martin and Aleix Espargaro have a close friendship, “that’s why I love this story,” grinned the Aprilia driver. “He deserves these successes and proves that you can have a lot of talent, but you still have to work hard. He approaches his task very seriously and prepares conscientiously in Andorra, where he lives virtually alone and without friends. He is very focused this year and has increased his fitness and strength training. He lives to win this title. Nothing comes to him, he works for it.”
Result MotoGP Sprint, Mandalika (10/14):
1. Martin, Ducati, 13 rounds in 19:49.711 min
2. Marini, Ducati, + 1.131 sec
3. Bezzecchi, Ducati, + 2,081
4. Viñales, Aprilia, + 2,720
5. Quartararo, Yamaha, + 3,121
6. Di Giannantonio, Ducati, + 4,203
7. Bastianini, Ducati, + 4,981
8. Bagnaia, Ducati, + 5,465
9. Miller, KTM, +7,852
10. Oliveira, Aprilia, + 8,942
11. Nakagami, Honda, + 12,034
12. Zarco, Ducati, + 14,015
13. Augusto Fernández, KTM, +14,823
14. Raúl Fernández, Aprilia, + 15,699
15. Morbidelli, Yamaha, + 23,331
16. Mir, Honda, +24,894
17. Pol Espargaró, KTM, +27,169
18. Rins, Honda, +28,980
19. Binder, KTM, +43,090
– Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia, 6 laps back
– Marc Márquez, Honda, did not finish first lap
World Championship standings after 29 of 40 races:
1. Martin, 328 points. 2. Bagnaia 321. 3. Bezzecchi 272. 4. Binder 201. 5. Aleix Espargaró 171. 6. Zarco 162. 7. Viñales 145. 8. Marini 144. 9. Miller 126. 10. Quartararo 116. 11. Alex Márquez 108. 12. Morbidelli 77. 13. Oliveira 69. 14. Augusto Fernández 67. 15. Marc Márquez 64. 16. Di Giannantonio 57. 17. Rins 47. 18. Nakagami 45. 19. Raúl Fernández 36. 20. Pedrosa 32 . 21. Bastianini 28. 22. Mir 20. 23. Pol Espargaró 12. 24. Savadori 9. 25. Folger 9. 26. Bradl 8. 27. Pirro 5. 28. Petrucci 5. 29. Crutchlow 3.
Constructors’ World Championship:
1. Ducati, 502 points (world champion). 2. KTM 273. 3. Aprilia 246. 4. Honda 142. 5. Yamaha 136.
Team World Cup:
1. Prima Pramac Racing, 490 points. 2. Mooney VR46 Racing 416. 3. Ducati Lenovo Team 359. 4. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 327. 5. Aprilia Racing 316. 6. Monster Energy Yamaha 193. 7. Gresini Racing 165. 8. CryptoDATA RNF 109. 9. LCR Honda 98. 10. GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3, 88. 10. Repsol Honda 84.