MOTOGP ROUND 18 INDONESIA | Aldeguer Reigns, Marquez Pain

Indonesia delivers a first-time winner, a new Moto3 champion, a title-shaping Moto2 disqualification and a top 5 for Jacob Roulstone

There is a perfectly acceptable argument that the first 17 rounds of MotoGP 2025 had been far too predictable. But with the championship settled, the shackles came off in Indonesia as a dirty track, insane temperatures and a special, stiffer Michelin rear tyre played havoc with results and turned the usual running order on its head.

First, recently crowned champion Marc Marquez (Lenovo Ducati) was taken out in spectacular fashion by Sprint winner Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing). A week on from dominating both races, Pecco Bagnaia (Lenovo Ducati) went into full meltdown, suffering the worst weekend of his career.

In their absence, Fermin Aldeguer broke clear to become the second youngest winner in premier class history, while 11 riders fought it out for second place, with previous 2025 no-hopers Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha) and Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia) included. How random do you like it?

It was hard to reconcile this being the same category that had served up the same Sprint and race victor in 25 of the first 34 races, as Aldeguer leapt ahead of Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM) on lap eight to eventually build up a lead of 9s. The manner in which he creamed the opposition belied his 20 years and 183 days.

But it was how he bounced back from his Saturday disappointment that was most impressive. For Aldeguer had led the Sprint for 11 of the 12 laps, before Bezzecchi – the pole sitter and fastest rider all weekend long – recovered from a wobbly start to pip him on the very last lap.

As brilliant as Aldeguer was, there was the overriding feeling Bezzecchi had blown a golden chance. “He’s flying, impossible to stop,” said Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) on Saturday. His fall didn’t just rule himself out of this one and most likely handcuff him with a penalty for the next; there’s also a chance he ended Marc’s season, with the recently crowned champion believed to have damaged ligaments around his right shoulder after the fall. With Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) and Maverick Viñales (Tech3 KTM) also missing through injury, the grid now has something of a threadbare feel.

This was bedlam from the moment the lights went out. As in the Sprint, Bezzecchi blew the start and was soon plotting a way back from seventh, with Acosta, Luca Marini (HRC Castrol), Aldeguer, Rins, Fernandez and Marc ahead.

Bezzecchi wasn’t plotting for long. Exiting Turn 5, the Italian soon found he was carrying so much more speed than Marc. Before he could react, he had tagged the champ’s rear, taking both men down. At first it was innocuous enough. Yet once Marc hit the gravel he was thrown head over heels, with a heavy landing on that shoulder. Bezzecchi, meanwhile, dismounted at over 160km/h. Suddenly, the favourite was out and the contest really was wide open.

Initially, Acosta led ably with Marini, Aldeguer and Fernandez following. Yet Aldeguer was soon on the move. Inside Marini with a neat Turn 12 pass on lap four, he was under Acosta at Turn 10 three laps later to lead for the first time. Acosta, his fellow Murcian, rallied, retaking the lead at Turn 1. But his efforts were fleeting, as Aldeguer was soon back though while in the midst of reeling off three fastest laps in succession. He’d go on to extend his lead out to 9.3s.

Back in the pack, Ducati’s factory team’s misery was compounded by Bagnaia, in last place after a woeful start and attempting to regain ground on second last Somkiat Chantra (LCR Honda), slipping off at the final turn on lap seven. From double victory the previous week to the depths of despair. And all, Ducati said, on the same bike he had raced in Japan.

With the winner decided, the fight for second was where the magic was. It soon became clear Acosta was holding up the riders behind, as not only Rins and Quartararo joined Marini and Fernandez in the fight; Alex, Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) plus Pramac Yamaha duo Jack Miller and Miguel Oliveira and VR46 Ducati teammates Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Di Giannantonio joined in the fun. On lap 16 just three seconds separated second and 12th. This was more Moto3 than MotoGP.

Acosta’s rear-guard action soon took on a Herculean level of heroism. First Marini tried twice at Turn 12 (lap ten and 12) only to lack the bloody-mindedness to make it stick. And the Italian was then shuffled back to eighth after contact with Fernandez into Turn 17 on lap 14. Rins and Alex then a free run at third and fourth.

The unlikely Rins – running Michelin’s soft rear along with Quartararo and Oliveira – was the next challenger, as he passed Acosta at Turn 12 on lap 19, with Alex following suit at Turn 10 three laps on. But Rins had gone too quick, too soon. Once Alex took second from him starting lap 23, it was clear he and his rear Michelin were in trouble. Acosta, Fernandez and Binder all blazed through on the same lap to push him out of the top five.

And Acosta wasn’t done. Careful to manage his medium rear tyre after a painful end to the Japanese GP, he tore into Alex’s half-second advantage on lap 24, and was past at Turn 10 the next time around to secure the canniest of his premier eight class podiums. His doggedness was as impressive as his tyre management here. “We’re growing up,” he said of the performance a day on from crashing out of second in the Sprint. Alex took a tenth podium of the year in third, with Binder nabbing fourth off Fernandez four laps from the flag.

Behind and Marini got retribution of sorts on the Trackhouse rider by claiming fifth two laps from the flag with a nice move at Turn 12. Quartararo nursed his soft rear tyre well to move forward in the closing laps, claiming a strong seventh. Morbidelli, who had surprised Miller with a pass at Turn 12 on lap 24, which pushed the Aussie off track, was eighth with Di Giannantonio ninth. Miller rejoined the track only to crash soon after with dirt on his tyres. Rins’ efforts went unrewarded as he spun his way to tenth.

Marc’s (545) championship advantage is trimmed to 183 with Alex (362) strengthening his second place after disappointing weekends for both Bagnaia (274) and Bezzecchi (254).

Bottler of the weekend

Luca Marini. Perhaps this is harsh. But the Honda rider had the second fastest bike on the grid and an incredible chance to take a maiden HRC podium. A lack of aggression cost him in the end here.

Disaster of the weekend

Pecco Bagnaia. An almost laughable implosion. Something just wasn’t right from the first lap of FP1. At points he was 3.5s slower per lap in the Sprint. And the fact he was chasing Chantra when he crashed speaks volumes of his Sunday.

2025 INDONESIAN MOTOGP RACE

Moto2 – Moreira back in the hunt

The Moto2 title race was blown wide open three hours after the race finished as leader Manuel Gonzalez (IntactGP Kalex) was disqualified from second place for “using a non-homologated software version”. Further reason for pole sitter and winner Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Kalex) to feel the momentum has shifted.

Like Japan, Gonzalez had superior pace to anyone on Friday and Saturday. Yet again he failed to make progress off the line as he slotted in behind Izan Guevara (Pramac Boscoscuro), Moreira and Dani Holgado (Aspar Kalex) from the start. Soon he was third after Holgado crashed from second on lap six. And by the time he was by Guevara on lap seven, Moreira had 1.1s in hand.

With 15 laps to go, there was plenty of time to overhaul his title rival. Yet the Brazilian was peerless as he eased clear to win by 4.6s. With Gonzalez later disqualified from second, Guevara too just a second Moto2 podium 7.2s back of the victor in a spread-out finale. And Aron Canet (Fantic Kalex) was promoted to third after recovering brilliantly from a nightmare Friday and Saturday when he’d qualified 21^st.

Gonzalez (238 points) now leads Moreira (229) by just nine points. The disqualification also handed Canet (205) a reprieve.

2025 INDONESIAN MOTO2 RACE

Moto3 – Rueda champion

If ever there was a race that showed how far Jose Antonio Rueda (Ajo KTM) has come in 2025, this was it. The Spaniard wrapped up the 2025 Moto3 World Championship thanks to recovering from a disastrous start to win his 11th race of the year in dramatic circumstances.

Rueda was as low as 15^th on lap as Joel Kelso (MTA KTM), pole sitter Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Honda) and Max Quiles (Aspar KTM) made the early running. Yet he never lost focus as he rose through the top ten while a number of his challengers imploded.

First Kelso crashed out of the victory fight on lap five. Then a collision between David Almansa (Leopard Honda), Taiyo Furusato (HTA Honda) and Alvaro Carpe (Ajo KTM) at Turn 16 reduced the lead group further. Quiles and chief rival Angel Piqueras (MSI KTM) were then handed Long Laps for taking shortcuts at Turn 9.

As if that wasn’t dramatic enough, Fernandez then took out David Muñoz (IntactGP KTM) at Turn 12 with three to go in a horrible spill that broke Muñoz’s leg. As marshals tended to the stricken Spaniard, red flags came out with results declared at the end of lap 18. Fernandez was first but handed a Double Long Lap for causing the fall while Quiles, third, was yet to serve his penalty.

Once the dust settled, Rueda was declared winner from Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Honda) and Guido Pini (IntactGP KTM) with Quiles demoted to fourth and Fernandez sixth.

Rueda (340 points) is now out of sight, with Piqueras (231) 109 points back and facing Quiles’ (217) challenge for second.

2025 INDONESIAN MOTO3 RACE

THE AUSSIES

Jack Miller (Sprint: 11^th, Result: 14^th)
A solid weekend for Jack, even if results didn’t show it. He backed a strong Sprint showing with a podium challenge on Sunday. But for a Morbidelli barge, it could have ended so differently.

“I felt good there, at the back of the group, two-tenths back, biding my time. Three laps until the end, Frankie came past me into 12. Only reason we didn’t make contact is I heard a bike when I shut the gas. Then I was off the track and DiGia came through and then next time I put the bike down on the left I crashed. Tyres were dirty going off line. Fucked it up at the end. Disappointed about that. Nice to be back there regardless.”

Senna Agius (Result: 12^th)
Senna’s job was big enough coming from 22^nd on the grid. Then it was complicated further when he was handed a Long Lap after contact with Zonta van den Goorbergh. But after serving that, he recovered from 22^nd to 12th, showing top-six pace.

“We had a good rhythm today. I went into the first corner a little too hot and pumped in a couple of riders. Unfortunately, I was the one who ended up in the gravel. In the end, we finished 12th with a competitive pace. We’ll take that with us into the next race: a little more confidence. It’s a tough time overall, but we have to stay strong and turn this final phase of the year around.”

Joel Kelso (Result: 10^th)
Another one that got away. For the third race in succession, Kelso led a Moto3 race and had race-winning potential. But he fell at Turn 16 five laps in before remounting in 25^th and recovering 15 places. Even if he gained from the chaos around him, it showed once again that the rider from Darwin isn’t far off making a podium return.

“Everything was going to plan… until it wasn’t. A crash while running up front dropped me back to 25th and 23 seconds behind. Fought hard to climb back to P10. I really felt like a win was on the cards today, but this just adds more fire in the belly for my home GP!”

Jacob Roulstone (Result: 5^th)
This felt like a breakthrough weekend for Jacob. Coming through from 13^th on the grid, he was in the top ten from the first lap. He avoided late chaos to post a personal best result.

“Very pleased with my race,” he smiled. “I think I did the best first few laps of my career, and I am very happy with our start. I struggled a bit from mid-race with the front tire because I attacked a lot at the start, so maybe I cooked it a bit too much. Messy race, the hottest and most challenging one, but I am really happy, and relieved to score a top 5. This result means a lot for us, because we want to show that we still deserve to be in this paddock.”

Cormac Buchanan (Result: 16^th)
“Definitely one of the more difficult weekends of the year. On Saturday I was only a second from the lap record. In Q1 I didn’t position myself right, which was frustrating. That left me with a lot of work to do. I got a great start from 23^rd and was up to 18^th. The group I was in were battling unnecessarily but I could stay at the front of that. In the last laps I was there fighting for 14^th but got really unlucky with the red flag. I had fallen back to 16^th and then recovered to 14^th. But we went back a lap with the red flag. Really frustrating to miss out on points. For Australia, we know we can do a good job there.”