Bezzecchi tops first practice at Mandalika for Indonesian MotoGP
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 9, 2026
A narrow margin at the front
Marco Bezzecchi set the early standard at Mandalika, topping first practice for the Indonesian MotoGP round with a 1 minute, 30.132-second lap on his Aprilia. The time put him 0.237 seconds ahead of Marc Márquez and established the session’s benchmark. Bezzecchi’s lap stood as the benchmark through the end of the practice.
The session pointed straight at the challenge waiting around the Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit in Lombok. The track stretches 4.313 kilometers, has 17 corners and gives riders little room to recover mistakes. Overtaking is difficult there because grip stays low, the surface picks up dust and the main straight runs only 500 meters. Bezzecchi handled the task best, and his early pace set the tone for the rest of the field.
Márquez and Martin close in
Marc Márquez answered late on the factory Ducati and climbed to second, just 0.237 seconds off Bezzecchi. His run mattered because it stopped Aprilia from locking out the top two spots in the session. Márquez put together a late lap that changed the shape of the practice sheet, leaving him second after the opening session of the weekend.
Jorge Martin followed in third, 0.266 seconds back, after improving on his final lap. That result kept him close to the front as the field began sorting through the Mandalika demands. Martin entered the Indonesian round with a two-point lead over Márquez, sitting on 333 points after Márquez’s double win in Japan.
Pedro Acosta led the KTM effort and finished fourth, giving the brand a spot near the front of the order. Raul Fernandez, Franco Morbidelli, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Fabio Quartararo, Fermin Aldeguer and Alex Marquez rounded out the top 10. Fernandez briefly set the pace on his Trackhouse bike and spent part of the session trading fastest laps with Di Giannantonio. The top of the sheet moved several times before Bezzecchi’s mark held up.
Crashes hit Mandalika
The session was not clean. Ai Ogura had the biggest crash of first practice at Turn 8, and Diogo Moreira and Fermin Aldeguer also went down during the run. With low grip and dust on the surface, riders had to manage their entries carefully.
Aleix Espargaro finished 22nd in his first MotoGP outing of the year as a stand-in for Joan Mir. His return added another notable line to the session, even if the result sat well outside the front-running group. First practice did more than sort the timing sheet. It showed which riders adapted fastest to a difficult circuit and which ones still had work to do before the weekend moved on.
Mandalika gives riders little margin for error and little time to recover once they lose momentum. That was clear in the lap times at the top, where the gap from first to third stayed under three tenths of a second, and in the crashes during the session. Bezzecchi left the session with the fastest lap, Márquez stayed within striking distance, Martin kept his title position intact and the rest of the top 10 followed behind them.
