Recently, Marco Bezzecchi has been in great shape. Although he had a rough start in the sprint race at the Indonesian GP, he managed to turn things around during the race, successfully overtaking Fermin Aldeguer from the Ducati camp, who showcased his best competitive form in this week’s event.
The MotoGP event week saw three practice sessions scheduled on Friday and Saturday. The second 60-minute qualifying practice, held on October 3rd at 15:00 [Taiwan time], allowed riders to consolidate data from Friday’s practices and provided crucial insights for their race strategy. This qualifying session will determine the ten riders who can automatically advance to Q2. However, due to injuries, both Martin and Xiaoliang Lan were absent, resulting in only 20 riders competing this week.
Under the bright, scorching heat where temperatures soared to 30 degrees Celsius and track temperatures hit 56 degrees Celsius, qualifying practice proved to be a challenge for the Ducati factory team. Among the six riders, only Aldeguer and A. Marquez from the satellite team Gresini managed to advance. M. Marquez and his teammate Bagnaia struggled with tire adaptation and their performance on the track. M. Marquez even faced two crashes during Q1, forcing him to adopt a more conservative strategy.
In contrast, the Aprilia team showcased stellar performances with Bezzecchi and Fernandez both securing spots in the top ten. Notably, Bezzecchi achieved the fastest lap time. Meanwhile, the Japanese manufacturers Honda and Yamaha also held their own, successfully advancing in the competition.
The qualifying session, which starts at 10:50 on the 4th [Taiwan time], is divided into two rounds. Q1 turns into a battleground for the Ducati riders who failed to advance, with Di Giannantonio and M. Marquez ultimately coming out on top. Meanwhile, Bagnaia misses out on Q2 by just 0.4 seconds.
In Q2, Bezzecchi seized the advantage, becoming the only rider to clock in under 1 minute and 28 seconds during the latter half of the race, effortlessly securing pole position. Meanwhile, Aldeguer and Fernandez fought for front-row positions, leading Aprilia to a stunning victory in this qualifying session.
The sprint race is set to take place on the track at 15:00 on the 4th [Taiwan time], with starting positions determined by the results of the qualifying rounds. The showdown between Bezzecchi and Aldeguer, along with Fernandez, is the highlight of the event. Before the race, the Tech3 team announced that Vinales would withdraw due to injury, further reducing the number of participants in both the sprint and final races to 19.
Despite the Mandalika Circuit’s race conditions kicking off at 30 degrees Celsius and a track temperature of 52 degrees, the circuit’s low demands meant that most drivers opted for soft tires on both the front and rear for the short 13-lap sprint.
When the lights went out, Bezzecchi had a slight delay in his reaction, allowing Aldeguer to take the lead into Turn 1, while Fernandez secured second place in the ensuing battle. Following them were Acosta, Marini, A. Marquez, and M. Marquez, who had to serve a long lap penalty after colliding with Rins.
After Acosta overtook Fernandez on the second lap, he attempted to threaten Aldeguer’s lead. However, a sudden crash on the fifth lap cost him the chance to compete, allowing Aldeguer to pull away with nearly a two-second advantage. As the battle among the front runners became clearer, the top five by the seventh lap were Aldeguer, Fernandez, Bezzecchi, A. Marquez, and Marini, showcasing fierce competition.
