The first Indonesian Grand Prix in 25 years proved memorable in more ways than one and only some of them positive. Following news that Marc Marquez was declared unfit to participate due to a head concussion sustained in a nasty high side in warm up, it seemed that the weather gods did not appreciate the development and sent a heavy downpour before riders got a chance to leave pitlane. With slow motion footage of lightning hitting the track and a local lady kindly performing some rain-chasing ritual in pitlane, it was quite a surreal build-up to the already shortened 20-lap race. Over an hour later than planned, the ritual paid off, rain turned to light drizzle, the marching band came out and riders lined up on a soaking wet grid. Another 40 minutes later, Miguel Oliveira claimed the rain master crown after a faultless race spent mostly at the front of the pack and although Fabio Quartararo missed out on victory, he had a pretty impressive comeback in tricky conditions to claim second. Despite the gaggle of Ducatis on the first few rows of the grid, only Johann Zarco managed to make it onto the podium.
Poleman Quartararo had made a decent start but it was Oliveira who stole the show straight away, going from seventh on the grid to second into turn one, the top two men quickly stretching a half second gap over the rest of the pack led by Jack Miller, fast starting Alex Rins and Zarco. Quartararo’s Indonesian reign came to an abrupt end before completing the opening lap, when he lost momentum going onto the kerbs at the final corner, which allowed Oliveira to get past and also gave Miller an opportunity to claim second going into turn one. Miller then went one better at turn 10, overtaking Oliveira to claim the lead. The KTM man was the only rider holding onto the leader by lap four, with Quartararo dropping over one second back and into the clutches of Rins, Zarco, Joan Mir and Franco Morbidelli, who had swiftly made up for the grid penalty. Meanwhile, Jorge Martin and Pecco Bagnaia were over four seconds behind their leading Ducati colleague, with Pol Espargaro also joining them in the top 10, while round one winner Enea Bastianini dropped to the bottom of the top 20 as he figured out the tricky conditions.
Oliveira decided that lap five was the right moment to reclaim the lead from Miller at turn 12 and the KTM man quickly extended a one second gap over the Ducati, while Rins was determined to close the two second gap to the man ahead, with Zarco in tow but not within striking distance. Quartararo settled in fifth position and Mir had to find eight tenths of a second if he was to challenge for his place. Meanwhile, Martin lost some ground due to a scary wiggle on the kerbs and then hit a wet patch heading into turn one and crashed out of seventh position at the start of lap 8. Colleague Bagnaia had a moment of his own at turn 1 but managed to save his wildly shaking machine and re-join in 12th place. White paint also punished Pol Espargaro with an off-track excursion and it helped Bagnaia back into the top 10 by the halfway mark of the race.
Back at the front, Oliveira was having considerably more fun, having extended his advantage to 2.5 seconds going into the second half of the race, while Rins was not making that much progress to catch up with Miller. However, Zarco was the fastest man on track at that stage and soon deposed Rins of third and had a go at reeling in Miller. Quartararo was less than a second behind the duo and there didn’t seem to be any challenge from behind, with Mir and Morbidelli running pretty lonely races in the top 7. Luca Marini did admirably to fend off Brad Binder and Bagnaia in the rest of the top 10, while Bastianini picked up the pace in the second half of the race to join the top 15.
With 8 laps to go, Oliveira was four seconds ahead and Miller had an eager Zarco breathing down his neck and looking for a way past. Rins was no longer a threat from behind, the Suzuki man suddenly dropping behind Quartararo after a mistake at turn 16, leaving the Yamaha man over a second behind the battle for second. Although Zarco was glued to Miller’s rear wheel, much of the action at that stage of the race came from the battle for 8th, where Marini faced the Binder and Espargaro brothers, Darryn particularly impressive and eventually spending a significant amount of time leading that group.
Change was afoot with six laps remaining, when Quartararo caught up with the two Ducatis ahead, helped by their occasional exchanges, and the world champion picked up second place at turn 12. As the fastest man on track, the Frenchman distanced the red bikes over the next lap, leaving Zarco and Miller to fight it out for third. With three laps to go, Quartararo found some more speed and got within three seconds of Oliveira, but the Portuguese rider quickly responded with a personal best and kept the Yamaha at a safe distance all the way to the chequered flag. Zarco also closed in on his compatriot, but it was too late to challenge and he settled for third. Miller, Rins, Mir and Morbidelli took the rest of the top 7 places in a pretty uneventful race end for the quartet, while the fight for eight place was a great deal more exciting. After a slow start, Bastianini found his speed to rejoin the top 10 in the closing stages and had a few spicy exchanges with top rookie Darryn Binder, but experience won out in the end and both Brad Binder and Aleix Espargaro got ahead of the youngsters. Darryn still kept a well-deserved top 10 position, while 11th place was enough for Bastianini to keep the lead of the championship.
Despite the difficult Sunday, Bastianini continues to be the championship leader by two points from Brad Binder, Quartararo climbing into third, with a three-point deficit and closely followed by Oliveira. Meanwhile, Pecco Bagnaia heads to round three with only one point on the board, after fading badly in the last few laps.
Results:
Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Time/Diff |
1 | 88 | Miguel Oliveira | KTM | 33:27.2230 |
2 | 20 | Fabio Quartararo | Yamaha | 2.205 |
3 | 5 | Johann Zarco | Ducati | 3.158 |
4 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati | 5.663 |
5 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 7.044 |
6 | 36 | Joan Mir | Suzuki | 7.832 |
7 | 21 | Franco Morbidelli | Yamaha | 21.115 |
8 | 33 | Brad Binder | KTM | 32.413 |
9 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 32.586 |
10 | 40 | Darryn Binder | Yamaha | 32.901 |
11 | 23 | Enea Bastianini | Ducati | 33.116 |
12 | 44 | Pol Espargaro | Honda | 33.599 |
13 | 73 | Alex Marquez | Honda | 33.735 |
14 | 10 | Luca Marini | Ducati | 34.991 |
15 | 63 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati | 35.763 |
16 | 12 | Maverick Viñales | Aprilia | 37.397 |
17 | 25 | Raul Fernandez | KTM | 41.975 |
18 | 49 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | Ducati | 47.915 |
19 | 30 | Takaaki Nakagami | Honda | 49.471 |
20 | 72 | Marco Bezzecchi | Ducati | 49.473 |
21 | 87 | Remy Gardner | KTM | 55.964 |
Not Classified | ||||
89 | Jorge Martin | Ducati | 12:01.1260 | |
4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Yamaha | 10:26.6370 |
Comments
Go Binder D ! Zarco sounds
Go Binder D ! Zarco sounds concise, flowing and clear. Amazing.
We actually got a race
Good on race direction, Indonesia and the organizers/facilitators of the event. They had a few massive issues, not least of which was the weather. For the teams and riders it was a nightmare. For punters like myself it was a cliffhanger. All's well that ends well. A metronomic, Lorenzo'esque performance by Miguel Olivera. A great win. On the other side of the KTM factory garage it was well played damage limitation in the battle for 8th by Brad Binder after a disastrous start. Jack Miller showed once again why he is always on the money when the heavens open, yet Zarco is equally as good. No great battle for the win or podium spots in the end. Quattararo rode a superb race and maxed the Yamaha's strengths as did Franky. Further adrift the battle for the top ten was epic. The ex Moto3 rookie put a huge grin on the With U team's face. The Espargaro brothers and Binder brothers ought to share a few cold ones tonight. That was sure entertaining.
Worth the wait
It's a first seeing a shaman inducing the weather to part for MotoGP. More than just one race there - wish we could have seen the battles lower down the order. Surprised the factory ducatis are so far the order - some own goals there in terms of winter preparations. They seem to be putting themselves under an awful lot of pressure judging by the remarks of Miller and Pecco. Conversely KTM seem to be doing the opposite and reaping the rewards. Excellent ride from Miguel and could be challenging for the championship. Refine and simplify an existing package rather than complicate by adding unproven new technology.
Yamaha must have been sandbagging - sure the bike lacks a little top end but nothing wrong anywhere else. Chapeau to Darren Binder on a year old bike.
Can't fathom what's gone wrong with suzuki. The bike has more speed now but has developed handling issues. The bikes with upgraded power plants now seem to have introduced an edginess to the power delivery that has made them harder to ride. Perhaps some wise sage at Yamaha noted this. Can't help but think that if was dry that Fabio would have disappeared into the distance.
Can't wait till Argentina.
Good thing for this excellent summary
Here in Eastern Canada the Moto GP video is a total disaster, never seen it like this -- delays, distortions, only half (if that) of the picture on screen ... Any place else having this problem?
In reply to Good thing for this excellent summary by larryt4114
garbage
Yes, the upload for NA is garbage. Moto2 and 3 vids were fine. I sent them a message and been rage tweeting a few at Dorna as well.
Its going to broadcast on CNBC at 3pm so I hope this isn't something they plan to continue to drive up TV ratings for NBC in NA.
In reply to garbage by yamashoe8
Ok on IOS in Canada
Experienced the same quality issues on my MS laptop. Tried on my IPad and was perfect. Except I couldn’t link to big screen :(
In reply to Ok on IOS in Canada by Cndgpfan
It's got to be the North
It's got to be the North American feed. I had the same issues, Moto 2 and Moto 3 were fine, but the video for Moto GP was zoomed in to a small section in the center of the shot. I tried the Opera browser on a whim and the problem went away. I discovered that's only because Opera was using a VPN and pulling the feed from the Netherlands, and when I turned the VPN off the problem came back. Something about the North American feed was messed up.
Strangely , the feed was fine on my Android phone, the problem only occurred on my PC.
In reply to Good thing for this excellent summary by larryt4114
Trying to replay a video
Trying to replay a video shortly after it was recorded, or while other live videos are streaming is always problematic with the MotoGP app. I figure they have bandwidth (literal gigabytes thruput, plus people) at the source end issues. I must have spend 5 or 10 minutes just trying to get a non-spoiler list of things to watch this morning. Was looking for MGP WUP while support races were going on.
In reply to Good thing for this excellent summary by larryt4114
Horrible Coverage
Just tried to watch video here in the northeast US, looks like it was shot with a low quality fish eye lens. Not even worth watching so I came over here to read about the results. I'm sure Dornas getting an ear full over this one.
In reply to Good thing for this excellent summary by larryt4114
try a different browser
Video was like that and still is (in no spoiler) like that on OSX Chrome. I switched to Safari and it was perfect. Safari also working in no spoiler....
In reply to Good thing for this excellent summary by larryt4114
A good description of Q1
I think
Unwatchable Video
My Moto GP was likewise useless...here in the USA...on the other hand it was a very wet race and so not a great loss...
Next GOAT
Next GOAT was hilarious. There should be a brother fight and if 33 doesn't have a black eye then idk what is going on. BB was NOT going to finish behind little bro: "Either I finish ahead of you or we all go down".
There has to be a limit to just how wrong one can be about this stuff. I'm still exploring the boundaries. Totally unpredictable to me. Fun race, crazy fans, nice layout...in a year this track will be amazing. We're on to Argentina
In reply to Next GOAT by Brian
Black Eye
Just watched the race so don't know your reference Brian, but that nudge of the front tire into the knee (elbow?) of the younger brother on the last lap was classic!
They always say that the first rider you must beat is your teammate, but obviously brother is even more important!
In reply to Black Eye by St. Stephen
That's
That's the one. Awesome bro battle
In reply to Black Eye by St. Stephen
Metaphorical
Metaphorical black eye of course
In reply to Metaphorical by Brian
Eye
The look D gave B as he was bumped and had to stand up a bit was classic. Who the F was that?? Oh.
Love those clear visors for rain!
edit: didn't get the next GOAT reference.
In reply to Eye by St. Stephen
Crowd Shot
There was a sign in the crowd Next GOAT with a pic of Fabio. A guy was dancing and the camera lingered on him. It was funny as all get out
Another enjoyable read, Zara
Another enjoyable read, Zara D. Thanks.
Video fix
If you click the pop-out icon at the top of the video, you can get the correct video instead of the zoomed in mess.
A nice way to have a sunday
A nice way to have a sunday breakfast, watching the race live on the telly. The KTM young guns will have a hard way up to the factory KTM. Both riders there are a force to reckon with, the way Oliveira passed Quartararo out of the last corner onto the mainstraight...Fabio must have felt he's riding a Moto2 the way the KTM went off.
If they keep their mojo working, the KTM brass has maybe to look for a KTM #5 and #6 on the grid for 2023.
Headline Grabbers
I know the big guns are going to grab the headlines, and rightfully so after racing with such total commitment in very difficult conditions. But, if there were a rider of the day vote, Darryn Binder gets mine. Moto3 to MotoGP, only his second race, first time in the wet, total commitment, exquisite control - very impressive.
I'm dying to see this brush
I'm dying to see this brush by Fabio on Jack that got Jack spun up. To wit, Fabio blows it off as nothing. I like the kids world view.
In reply to I'm dying to see this brush by mtiberio
I think it was when Jack
I think it was when Jack passed him on the start of lap 2...3 ? Fabio loses drive out of the last turn, Oli rockets past and Jack goes on the inside into T1. Fabio goes to cut back in on the exit. As soon as Fabio reaches the apex he sort of runs into Jack's side. Didn't look hard or heavy, just looked like it was wet.
Take a bow
Daryn Binder, my god son. What a show.
I’d love to watch his entire race 😅
In reply to Take a bow by Matonge
Monkey boy
Monkey boy rode great
BB
Seems Brad had something weird happen to his start system , locking him into start mode for the entire race .
¿ can we hire that lady for Silverstone ?
nb thanks for the report and the posts
In reply to BB by grumpy ol' expat
So 3rad's rear was squatting
So 3rad's rear was squatting down the whole time? Ick! That must have felt horrible. Surprised he did so well!
A fix for the videopass quality
I too got the potato vision fisheye. It's not your browser, Dorna messed up.
If you switched from EN to ES, you got the correct video feed w/ english commentary. Just the menus were in spanish.
In reply to A fix for the videopass quality by tbuskey
All fixed now, it seems
Watched the race twice today, no problems. Wonder how many complaints flooded their servers, lol?