HOT HEADLINES: Marc Marquez unleashed? Bagnaia back in business? MotoGP™ heads for Mandalika

motogp.com

01 Oct 2025

There’s plenty on the line in the final five and a whole new dynamic after a historic weekend at Motegi – so who’s coming out on top in Lombok?

Thundering into the tropics: Mandalika awaits!

The action continues to come thick and fast, with the paddock touching down on Lombok for the Indonesian Grand Prix

BACK IN BUSINESS: can Bagnaia take the fight to Marquez in final five?

Marquez has demons to bury in Indonesia. Mandalika is a circuit he’s yet to even finish at in a GP race, let alone bag a podium or celebrate a victory. 2022 was derailed by his monster highside at Turn 7, one of the many comebacks contained within the 2184 days since he was last Champion in 2019, and there hasn’t been much luck since – including a technical DNF on Sunday last season. He was on the Sprint rostrum, however. If he can win the GP race here too, he’ll equal one more Valentino Rossi stat – wins at 23 different circuits. Marquez is on 22, Rossi 23, and the all-time record is close too: Mick Doohan won at 24. The #93 is also now free of any title pressure.

However. After a tough season so far, his teammate Bagnaia was impeccable in Japan, with his first Sprint win of 2025 on Saturday and a second Grand Prix victory of the year on Sunday. A first double. And not by luck or magic, the 2022 and 2023 MotoGP Champion looked mighty convincing – seemingly very much back in business. P2 overall is still the aim for Pecco and he HAS won here, from P13 on the grid in 2023 no less, and was on the podium last season after taking victory in the Sprint. Will we see those sparks of Jerez and Mugello fanned into real flames in the final five rounds?

CLOSING UP: silver medal spoils and the fight for fifth

Splitting the factory Ducatis, Alex Marquez’s title quest is over but second is still very much the aim, as well as the top Independent Team rider crown which he can take this weekend if he’s more than 148 clear in those standings. Overall in the Championship, he has 66 points to spare but if Bagnaia is back to his best, then it could be a fantastic showdown for silver. 32 points further back from the #63, Marco Bezzecchi’s (Aprilia Racing) rollercoaster weekend saw him on the floor through no fault of his own on Saturday before a combative Sunday saw the #72 fight back up to fourth. Fifth in the last two years at Mandalika, he seeks to make up ground in the P3 tussle too.

An intense three-way scrap for fifth is heading into the final quarter of 2025. Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) may be the rider 144 points off Alex Marquez in the Independent Rider standings, but he has a one-point lead over Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and took a solid fourth place. Acosta suffered a point-less Sunday in Japan, costing him fifth overall. Then, 14 points adrift of his teammate, Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) sits seventh. Morbidelli bagged his best result of 2024 at Mandalika, Acosta was on the rostrum in Indonesia 12 months ago, and Diggia’s best result here is a fourth – some good form to add some spice to a feisty fifth place scrap. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), who has two GP podiums at Mandalika, is hanging on just behind them, 33 points from ‘Diggia’ in seventh, but just two points clear of top rookie Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP).

HONDA HEROICS: podium bagged, what next?

After his first podium in four years and first for Honda, as well as an equal best MotoGP qualifying and his best Sprint result in P4, Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) leaves Motegi with a smile. If he can keep that rolling he may well be a dark horse in the closing stages of 2025, with a late charge for the top ten not out of the question. 52 points split him and Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR), who holds P10, but there are 185 still on the table. Meanwhile Mir’s teammate Luca Marini, who had some good speed on Honda turf but had to retire on Sunday at Motegi, was a polesitter in Indonesia back in 2023. Zarco took a double top ten finish last year and Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda LCR) took Thailand’s first-ever Grand Prix win here in Moto2™ in 2022, too. Could Honda be a force to be reckoned with again at Mandalika?

In between Zarco and Mir, and battling to get into the top ten, Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) and Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) are queueing up. Binder had a tough one at Motegi, Fernandez came home seventh and was the second Aprilia last time out, whilst Bastianini endured a challenging Japanese GP. But he does have some pretty good finishes at Mandalika – including pushing Pecco to within a tenth of the Sprint win last year.

BOUNCING BACK: luck wanted in Lombok

Jack Miller’s (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) luck was out at Motegi when his chain broke and he’ll want more. His teammate Miguel Oliveira has scored points in his last four GPs and was the winner of the first ever Grand Prix at Mandalika back in 2022 in the rain too. Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) has always scored points in Indonesia and aims for more after three GPs without, and Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) hopes for a less painful weekend as he continues to recover from his shoulder injury, still sporting an ice pack in the paddock in Japan. Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) had to withdraw from his home GP last weekend, still suffering the effects of his crash in Misano, and if he attempts to race here he'll need to pass a medical. One rider who won’t be on track is Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing), whose bad luck returned full force on Saturday in Japan as he broke his collarbone. He’s having surgery on that and isn’t expected to be replaced.

With the new Champion crowned, the fight for silver hotting up and so much more on the line – including the Team Championship for Ducati Lenovo – there’s much to look forward to in the final five races. They begin this weekend with the Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia, so don’t miss it – Lombok awaits!