Enea Bastianini wins his first ever MotoGP race! He also saves Ducati from a horrible weekend, where the poleman Jorge Martin, Francesco Bagnaia, and Jack Miller are out of the race.

 

Brad Binder finishes 2nd. The South African rider had huge battles with the Repsol Honda duo, Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro. This is also KTM's best result in Qatar.

 

Pol Espargaro, who led the first 17 laps, has to finish 3rd after being overtaken by Bastianini at the straight line and going wide at Turn 1.

 

Not a good result by Fabio Quartararo, as he only finishes 9th.

 

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Parc ferme interviews:

 

Enea Bastianini (1st): “I feel incredible emotions. I pushed from the start. The most important thing is that I wanted to save the tires for the end of the race. When I saw Pol pushing hard I managed to pass Binder. Then I saw that I had Pol close by and I knew it was time to try and win the race. I passed him at the first corner and then he went off the track. It’s hard for me to talk about it now. I want to dedicate this victory to Fausto (Gresini). He pushed hard from heaven. For the whole team it is fantastic, we all cried together. I’m happy for my family at home, I want to thank everyone for this.”

 

Brad Binder (2nd): “Today was a great day. The weekend was all very positive. Since PL1 I have been at ease. I knew I had a good level. We had a few problems over the course of the weekend, but honestly I had a lot of confidence. I felt great from the start and then until the last laps. Thanks to KTM who pulled this rabbit out of the hat. We have made tremendous progress since last year. Getting on the podium in Qatar is crazy for us. Last year was the toughest race of the year for us. For the future I expect other podiums at this point.”

 

Pol Espargaro (3rd): “I need to have even more knowledge of the bike. At the end of the race some things happened that I didn’t expect and that took me by surprise. But going up front and pushing like that wasn’t even on the agenda. The strategy was the other way around, we had to stay behind. We had fuel problems and we should have used the slipstream for a few laps. But I found myself in first position, I was fine and I kept pushing. Maybe I overdid it and in the end I missed the tires. But it’s the first race, I felt very good. We’re back. This is the sign that Honda has two strong riders ahead, not just one. This can be said for the first time in many years and I am very proud of this.”

2022 British Superbike Drivers Update:

 

VisionTrack Ducati:- Josh Brookes (Australia), Danny Kent

Specsavers Suzuki:- Leon Jeacock

Crowe Performance:- Chrissy Rouse

Lee Hardy Racing:- Leon Haslam

MotoGP held a parade in Jakarta to celebrate the return of Indonesian Grand Prix.

 

Sorry for not updating MotoGP yesterday. I was very busy, unfortunately.

 

Here is today's starting grid:

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Schedule (GMT+8):

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Moto3 and Moto2 results:

 

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Happy to see Chantra on the top of the podium!

Marc Marquez is declared UNFIT for today's race. :(

Edited March 20, 20223 yr by Cowntry Roads

It rains heavily in Mandalika now. Hoping it won't end the same as MotoGP Silverstone 2018 and last year's F1 Spa. 🙏

A 'rain handler'. :lol:

 

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Miguel Oliveira wins the Indonesian GP, followed by Fabio Quartararo (2nd), and Johann Zarco (3rd)!

 

WC leader Enea Bastianini finishes 11th, but still leads the championship.

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Indonesian GP parc ferme interview:

 

Miguel Oliveira (1st): “From an emotional point of view it was like riding a roller coaster. Perfect start, finding the limit was not easy, at first I used Miller as a reference point, then I passed him and I managed to stretch. I promised my daughter a trophy from Indonesia and I am happy to be able to keep my promise, it has been a difficult month for me and it is a very important victory. I also dedicate the result to a guy called Risman. He's a staff in the hotel that I stayed in. He has always supported me in the hotel these days. We will see our level in the next events, meanwhile we are celebrating this great success.”

 

Fabio Quartararo (2nd): “I didn’t expect rain. These points are very heavy, it’s the first podium in the wet for me, it’s a very important result. I thank the fans who have been splendid waiting for the race, for me today is a positive day because I was finally able to be effective even in the wet and it is very important for the World Championship.”

 

Johann Zarco (3rd): “I have to be happy with third place, because it’s always a MotoGP podium and it’s always good. It took me a little too long to understand what the limit was, while Miller and Oliveira immediately found themselves well with the grip. Once I found the feeling I made up ground, but it wasn’t easy to overtake because I wasn’t good at getting out of the corners fast. In braking, on the other hand, I was effective, but I lost too much time in overtaking, precluding myself from fighting for second place. Third place, however, is obviously fine.”

First early wake up of the season and had to wait an extra hour for it to start. At least we had the shaman as entertainment!

 

How gutting for MM93, every time you think he's putting some form together he has another worldy crash :(

Still couldn't believe a shaman video got 100k likes. :lol:

Definitely understand the hype, as this was our first Indonesian GP in 25 years.

 

I just hope Márquez doesn't force himself too much. He could end his career earlier and he's still 29. :(

That high slide from Marquez was the biggest I've seen.

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Marc Márquez is diagnosed with diplopia, again.

Really hate to see this one coming. -_-

Sorry for the lateness, but here are the qualifying results:

 

MotoGP:

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Note: Jack Miller receives a 3-grid penalty for ruining Quartararo's flying lap.

 

Moto2:

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Fermin Aldeguer becomes the youngest polesitter in the intermediate class.

 

Moto3:

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Moto3 and Moto2 results:

 

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Jack Miller gets a 3-place grid drop for his slam-dunk penalty after blocking Fabio in Q2.