Márquez Has Never Finished a MotoGP Race at Mandalika. Now He’s 2 Points Behind Martín
Four visits, four Grand Prix non-finishes: a concussion, a crash, an engine failure and a broken collarbone. Marc Márquez arrives in Indonesia two points behind Jorge Martín after a perfect weekend at Motegi, at a track that may suit Aprilia better than Ducati. The title maths, the history and the start times.
Márquez’s Mandalika Curse: 2 Points Behind Martín
Zero Mandalika finishes in four tries. The title fight, the history and start times.
Marc Márquez has won almost everywhere MotoGP races. Mandalika is the exception, and not just for wins: in four visits to the Indonesian circuit since it joined the calendar in 2022, he has never been classified at the finish of a Grand Prix. Different reasons each time, the same result.
This year the stakes are higher than ever. After winning both the Sprint and the Grand Prix at Motegi, Márquez is two points behind Jorge Martín, 333 to 331, with six rounds left. The Indonesian Grand Prix runs from 9 to 11 October, with the race at 15:00 local time on Sunday (08:00 UK). For how he closed the gap, see our report on Márquez’s Motegi Sprint win.
Márquez at Mandalika: Four Years, Four Non-Finishes
What makes Márquez’s Mandalika record strange is that there’s no clear pattern. It hasn’t been the same problem each year:
As Grande Prêmio put it in its analysis of the run, the four weekends don’t point to a single recurring weakness: a medical issue, a crash, a mechanical failure and a collision. That’s both reassuring and worrying for Ducati. Nothing is broken that needs fixing, but nothing guarantees it won’t happen again. His one Mandalika podium came in the 2024 Sprint, so he can be fast here. He just hasn’t got to the end on Sunday.
A medical issue, a crash, an engine and a collision. Márquez’s Mandalika curse has a different cause every year, and the same result.
MotoGP Title Maths: What Mandalika Could Change
Márquez’s perfect Motegi weekend, a Sprint win and a Grand Prix win, turned a 12-point deficit into two. Martín finished second in the Grand Prix, a strong recovery after his Saturday tyre problems and penalty.
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Points | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jorge Martín LEADER | Aprilia | 333 | — |
| 2 | Marc Márquez | Ducati | 331 | −2 |
| 3 | Marco Bezzecchi | Aprilia | 284 | −49 |
| 4 | Pedro Acosta | KTM | 243 | −90 |
| 5 | Ai Ogura | Aprilia | 237 | −96 |
| 6 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | Ducati | 230 | −103 |
Each round is worth up to 37 points: 12 for a Sprint win and 25 for a Grand Prix win. With six rounds left, 222 points remain. At Mandalika, the maths is simple: whoever finishes ahead in the two races leaves Indonesia leading the championship. If Márquez finishes ahead of Martín in either race by enough places, he takes the lead for the first time since the summer. A Márquez non-finish on Sunday, on the other hand, could hand Martín a lead of 20 points or more.
Bezzecchi, 49 points back, is still in the fight mathematically and is the joker in the pack: if he takes points off both of them, it keeps him in contention. Our guide to how racing championships are scored explains the points systems in more detail.
Why Mandalika Could Favour Aprilia
Mandalika is hot, humid and hard on tyres, and Michelin usually brings a heat-resistant rear tyre with a stiffer construction. That matters for the title fight. In an analysis for Motor Sport, quoted by MotoGPNews, journalist Mat Oxley argued that the stiffer casing reduces grip across most of the tyre but not at the edge. That suits riders and bikes that carry high corner speed, like the Aprilias, more than the stop-and-go style that has worked so well for Ducati.
Oxley pointed to Fermín Aldeguer, last year’s winner, as the Ducati rider Márquez should study, because Aldeguer “uses more corner speed” than other Ducati riders and suffers less with that tyre. He suggested Márquez would be looking at Aldeguer’s braking data, trying to carry more speed into and through the corners.
There’s form to back the theory. Italian site GPOne noted that Bezzecchi won the Mandalika Sprint in 2025, and that the Aprilias went well at several of the remaining tracks last year, including Phillip Island, Portimão and Valencia. Qatar, where Márquez won both races in 2025, looks like his strongest remaining venue, and Sepang was a weak track for Bezzecchi.
Tyres already shaped the title fight a week ago. At Motegi, Michelin withdrew the soft rear for the Grand Prix after it blistered in the Sprint, and Martín’s tyre failure on Saturday cost him points. Forecasts for Mandalika point to highs around 34°C on Sunday, with a chance of rain all weekend.
Two other storylines are worth watching. Honda test rider Aleix Espargaró replaces the injured Joan Mir, and Bagnaia, eighth in the standings, will be looking for a much better weekend than last year, when he crashed out. For the riders’ 2027 plans, see the MotoGP 2027 rider line-up.
Indonesian GP at Mandalika: Past Winners
The Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit on the island of Lombok is a 4.3 km street-style track with 17 corners. It brought MotoGP back to Indonesia in 2022, a quarter of a century after the series last raced in the country at Sentul in 1997.
| Year | Winner | Bike | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Miguel Oliveira | KTM | Rain-hit race; Márquez ruled out after warm-up crash |
| 2023 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati | Martín crashed out of the lead |
| 2024 | Jorge Martín | Ducati (Pramac) | Márquez’s engine failed |
| 2025 | Fermín Aldeguer 1ST WIN | Ducati (Gresini) | Won by 6.987s; Márquez and Bezzecchi clashed on lap one |
Martín’s Mandalika record is mixed too: a crash from the lead in 2023, then victory in 2024 on his way to the title. In 2025, Pedro Acosta finished second and Álex Márquez third behind Aldeguer, while only 14 riders made it to the flag. Our profiles of Pedro Acosta and Álex Márquez, and our Gresini Racing guide, cover two of last year’s podium finishers.
Indonesian MotoGP 2026 Start Times
Both the 13-lap Sprint on Saturday 10 October and the 27-lap Grand Prix on Sunday 11 October start at 15:00 local time (WITA, UTC+8).
| Location | Sprint (Sat 10 Oct) | Grand Prix (Sun 11 Oct) |
|---|---|---|
| Mandalika (WITA) | 15:00 | 15:00 |
| UK (BST) | 08:00 | 08:00 |
| US Eastern | 03:00 | 03:00 |
| US Pacific | 00:00 | 00:00 |
| India (IST) | 12:30 | 12:30 |
| Bangladesh | 13:00 | 13:00 |
| Australia (AEDT) | 18:00 | 18:00 |
In the UK, the weekend is live on TNT Sports, with free highlights on YouTube afterwards. It’s the same weekend as Formula 1’s Singapore Grand Prix, which starts at 20:00 local time on Sunday, so motorsport fans can watch both.
Indonesian MotoGP 2026 — FAQ
Two points, and a track that’s never been kind
Márquez arrives at Mandalika in the form of his life and two points behind Martín, at the one circuit where he has never finished a Grand Prix. If the heat and the tyres favour the Aprilias, as many expect, a solid points finish could be worth as much as a win.
The Sprint is on Saturday and the Grand Prix on Sunday, both at 08:00 UK time. Follow World of Speed for results and updated standings.
