Raúl Fernández will start on pole for the first time in his MotoGP career at the Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia. Joining him on the front row at the Mandalika International Circuit will be Marco Bezzecchi in second, with Fabio Di Giannantonio claiming third on his birthday. Check out the full report on the MotoGP qualifying of the Indonesian GP below.
A Qualifying Session of Survival with Multiple Crashes
Climbing temperatures in Lombok’s tropical climate greeted the riders as they came out of the pit lane with 15 minutes on the clock. Fermín Aldeguer was the first to chase a lap time, with Johann Zarco closely behind. Unfortunately for the French rider, the front folded on him as he entered Turn 10 on the Mandalika circuit. While Zarco did manage to keep the engine running, he only remounted and returned to the LCR Honda garage to inspect the damage.
Ai Ogura was doing what he could to join the rest of the Aprilia pack in Q2 as he came out for the second round of time attacks. Coming up into P2, Ogura looked comfortable and confident. That was until he came off at Turn 8 with a few minutes to go and no chance to set another lap time. Zarco had his second crash and remount at Turn 2, and Jack Miller followed through into the gravel trap.
Enea Bastianini and Diogo Moreira were the next riders to crash, both down at Turn 1 in separate incidents.
Despite popping out his right shoulder in his crash earlier, Toprak Razgatlıoğlu was back in the Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP leathers for Q1. Medical officials cleared the Turkish rider to take part in the session. However, the pain may have been too much. Razgatlıoğlu qualified at the tail end of the grid, beating both the LCR Honda riders and Aleix Espargaró.
Ultimately, Ogura held on to that spot to advance with only one bike to use. Álex Rins did put in a valiant effort, though his last flying lap was interrupted by Aldeguer.
Super Shootout in Q2 as Fernández Claims Pole Position
After coming out on top in Friday’s Practice, Fernández was in prime form coming into Q2. However, there were some heavy hitters to contend with. This included Bezzecchi, who had gone fastest in Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2. The Aprilia riders were the ones to beat, but Marc Márquez went straight up to provisional pole on the first time attack.
With ten minutes on the clock still, the leaderboard was tight as faster laps rolled in. Bezzecchi set a time in the 1:28s as the Q2 contenders returned to the pit lane.
A minute or so later, riders were back out for what was lining up to be the ultimate pole shootout. M.Márquez followed Jorge Mártin closely around Mandalika as the clock wound down. Fernández was the next in provisional pole with a time of 1:28.852, with Bezzecchi coming back. Unfortunately, the #72 had no choice but to back out when yellow flags came out at Turn 16 for Aldeguer’s crash.
After the checkered flag, there was a chance for final flying laps. But it seemed like everyone had decided to back out of their laps, leaving the pole to Fernández.