Marco Bezzecchi struck on the final lap of the race to snatch a hard-fought Indonesia MotoGP Sprint victory from the clutches of rookie Fermin Aldeguer.
Bezzecchi lost eight places on the opening lap, but used his superior pace to get back on level terms with the field, before striking on the final lap to snatch victory out of rookie Fermin Aldeguer’s hands.
It was a great start from Aldeguer, who capitalised on a poor getaway from polesitter Bezzecchi, as the Spanish rookie led the way around the first lap.
Bezzecchi’s start demoted him behind both Marquez brothers into ninth, but he moved up a position after Marc Marquez made contact with Alex Rins and forced the Yamaha rider to sit up.
The World Champion was awarded a long lap penalty for the contact, which he incurred on the second lap of the race, pushing him down the order to 12th.
At the front, Aldeguer made a mistake at the penultimate corner of Lap 1, allowing Raul Fernandez through, but the rookie struck back straight away to regain the lead.
Fernandez then lost second place to a fast-charging Pedro Acosta, with the top three positions belonging to the young Spaniards of the field.
After his difficult start, Bezzecchi made his way through on both Marquez brothers, but his progress was stunted behind the Honda of Luca Marini.
It took three laps before Bezzecchi found his way through on his compatriot, and while the Italian made his move, Acosta crashed out of Turn 1 while running in second.
The Italian continued his blistering form around the Mandalika circuit, passing Raul Fernandez for second to set his sights on closing down Aldeguer two seconds in front.
Marquez, meanwhile, was stuck in the pack with both VR46 riders and Brad Binder, with the World Champion able to get past the South African before being gifted a further position when Fabio Di Giannantonio ran wide.
Bezzecchi found his opportunity to take the lead at Turn 11 and didn’t need a second invitation, forcing the Spaniard to run wide as he took first position.
Aldeguer looked to respond two corners later, but ultimately was unable to find a way back into the race lead.
The Italian crossed the line to seal his second Sprint victory of the season by 0.157s over Aldeguer.
Fernandez eventually took the flag to complete the Sprint podium in third, four seconds behind the leading pair.
Alex Marquez moved from seventh on the grid to fourth, while the factory Hondas came home in fifth and sixth respectively, with Joan Mir leading Luca Marini. Marc Marquez completed his race down in seventh after serving his long lap penalty.
The VR46 pairing rounded out the points finishers, with Franco Morbidelli besting team-mate Fabio Di Giannantonio, while Miguel Oliveira narrowly missed out.
Brad Binder split the Pramac Yamaha pair as he stole 11th from Jack Miller. Alex Rins took 13th over the line, while Francesco Bagnaia completed the finishers in a distant 14th.
Fabio Quartararo crashed on the final lap of the race, joining compatriot Johann Zarco and Enea Bastianini as non-finishers. Acosta rejoined after his Turn 1 escapade, but withdrew into the garage, while Somkiat Chantra also crashed on Lap 1 to complete the retirements of the Sprint.
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