Jorge Martín wins the unfortunate Indonesian Grand Prix and extends the MotoGP lead | MotoGP

Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martín led an ill-fated Indonesian Grand Prix in Mandalika from start to finish, winning his third race of the season and extending his lead over reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia to 21 points in the MotoGP standings.

Martín started from pole position in hot and humid conditions at the Mandalika International Street Circuit and remained at the front throughout the race, despite fellow Spanish rider Pedro Acosta breathing down his neck.

The jubilant 26-year-old punched the air after his win, which came a year after he crashed in the same race, squandering his championship lead before finishing second to Bagnaia.

“I am very happy. This is not just any victory, because I think after everything that happened last season, after yesterday’s crash, it was quite difficult to perform like that,” said Martín, who also crashed in Saturday’s sprint race.

“I had a lot – no doubts – because I trust myself, but you know, I thought about crashing in every corner. It was incredible to find that feeling again during the race and win with that margin today. A lot of pressure from Pedro, I’m really happy. I think we’re ready for next time.”

Martín leads the championship with 366 points, Bagnaia with 345.

Bagnaia, hoping to win eight races in a season for the first time in his MotoGP career, qualified fourth on the grid and won Saturday’s sprint, reducing his gap to Martín to 12 points.

But the Italian got off to a terrible start on Sunday, remaining in fourth place after a slow start before drifting wide and being overtaken by Franco Morbidelli and Marco Bezzecchi, dropping him to sixth on the second lap.

Bagnaia moved up to fifth after his Ducati teammate Enea Bastianini crashed late in the race, then took advantage of Bezzecchi and Morbidelli’s mistakes to secure a place on the podium and the damage inflicted by Martín’s victory was to limit.

“A very, very tough race. At the beginning I had big problems because I lost position again,” said Bagnaia. “We have to check it because it is the fifth start in a row where we have problems. That’s why we have to improve in this area, because you can win a race with the start.

“Then when I was behind [Bezzecchi and Morbidelli]I had trouble overtaking them. Once I was in front, I was able to put pressure on again, but I was too late.”

Bastianini’s crash almost ended his dreams of an external title win and put him 54 points behind Bagnaia in the Drivers’ Championship.

The suffering continued for six-time MotoGP champion Marc Márquez (Gresini Racing), who started on the fourth row after two crashes in qualifying as he suffered technical problems midway through the race and was forced to jump off his burning bike.

There was a yellow flag on the first lap after Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM) locked up and slipped, also taking out Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia), Luca Marini (Repsol Honda) and Álex Márquez (Gresini Racing).