Jorge Martin restored his advantage at the head of the 2024 MotoGP world championship standings with a dominant lights-to-flag victory in the Indonesian Grand Prix at the Mandalika Circuit.
The Pramac Ducati rider was the class of the field from start-to-finish as he put the frustrations of Saturday’s sprint race crash – and his competition – firmly behind him to secure his first Sunday success since the French Grand Prix at Le Mans in May.
A result that will boost Martin’s confidence a year on from the agony of throwing both a victory and the championship lead away with a costly crash at the Lombok venue, this time the Spaniard leaves Indonesia with a comfortable 21-point margin over factory Ducati rival Francesco Bagnaia – who finished third – with five rounds of the season to go.
In a race of attrition in which just 12 of the 21 starters finished, Martin left the drama in his wake and nailed the ideal start to secure the lead.
With no repeat of the mistake that took him down before the end of lap one in the sprint race, Martin proceeded to get his head down and open up a comfortable margin over a chasing pack initially headed by Enea Bastianini until Pedro Acosta moved into second on lap three.
It was a position the rookie would hold on merit too, Acosta quickly gapping Bastianini before making inroads into Martin’s lead.
However, despite the hint of a potential dual for the win as Acosta chipped away at his compatriot’s advantage, Martin asserted his control in the closing laps to gallop home 1.4s clear of the GasGas Tech3 rider.
Arguably the most convincing race of Acosta’s stellar rookie campaign, second place represents the 2023 Moto2 champion’s fourth trip to the podium in 2024.
Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
He was lucky, however, to avoid a late showdown for the position against Bastianini, the Italian making big in-roads towards the KTM ahead once he’d dispatched a stubborn Franco Morbidelli (Pramac) on lap 17.
However, the factory Ducati rider’s charge – and potentially his title hopes – came to an abrupt end just four laps later when he low-sided out of third at Turn 1.
His exit therefore promoted Bagnaia into a distant third place, the double defending champion rescuing a decent result from a lacklustre afternoon that had him struggling to keep up with the top five for long stretches.
However, after eventually getting the better of Morbidelli and…
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