Aprilia MotoGP rider Marco Bezzecchi doesn’t have a firm answer for his poor start in the Indonesian Grand Prix sprint after pulling off an incredible recovery to win on the final lap.
Bezzecchi stormed to pole position at Mandalika by over four tenths of a second, but got bogged down at the launch and slipped to eighth on the grid.
However, with a clear advantage over his rivals, the Italian quickly started rising back up the order, grabbing third place from Honda rival Luca Marini on lap five before passing the Trackhouse-entered RS-GP of Raul Fernandez three laps later.
This put him second behind long-time race leader Fermin Aldeguer, but with a 2.2s gap to chase in the final five laps.
However, Bezzecchi managed to hound the Gresini Ducati in the final stages of the race, eventually making a bold pass at Turn 10 on the last lap to claim his second sprint win in three weekends.
The Aprilia rider said he doesn’t know if the poor launch was down to human error or a mechanical problem: “We have to understand what happened at the start, if it was my mistake or not. I started really slowly the first couple of metres and after the bike was ok, but I don’t know why I lost a lot of ground in the first 10-20 metres.”
Bezzecchi said he initially thought second place would be the maximum he could achieve after overtaking Fernandez, but as the gap to Aldeguer grew smaller with every lap, he decided to go for the victory.
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
“It was tough, I was in the back, but I knew I had the pace to try to fight back at least,” he said.
“I lost a bit of time with [Luca] Marini, but after I tried to move on step [by step]. I said, ‘ok, let’s try to make the podium’. Then when I saw that I was third, I was catching Raul, [I was like], ‘ok, let’s try to finish second’.
“When I passed Raul, Fermin was super far, so I didn’t expect anything. I just tried to push to secure second place. Pushing, I saw that I was also catching Fermin, so I said, ‘ok, let’s try it’.
“I gave my all at the end and found a small space in turn 10, and it was cool.”
The sprint race came to a climactic finish as Bezzecchi started the final lap just 0.348s behind Aldeguer.
Bezzecchi sent his Aprilia up the inside into Turn 10 and, although Aldeguer mounted a fightback just two corners later, he held on to win by 0.157s in one of the closest finishes of 2025.
Recalling the final-lap battle, Bezzecchi said: “I was super quick in sector two. I said, ‘OK, let’s try to be close there and maybe try overtaking [him at Turn 10. That is one of the few hot spots that we have to [overtake]. We don’t have many at this track.
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Photo by: Sonny Tumbelaka / AFP via Getty Images
“When I arrived there in Turn 7, then he made Turn 8 super good and I was a bit far. And I said, ‘no, he’s gone’. But then at corner nine, I took the slipstream.
“I was quite close. I tried anyway. It was aggressive, but it was enough.
“And then at Turn 11, 12, he put the wheel inside and got too close, and I lost the front. I expected him to pass me again, but I didn’t hear him. So I said, ‘OK, maybe he’s not there.’
“I just went for my own space and it was good.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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