Another confusing weekend from the 2024 MotoGP title rivals in Indonesia, a lot of riders in the gravel and a rookie sensation back to his pace.
That equals plenty for Simon Patterson to mull over as he ranks the entire field's performances at Mandalika from best to worst.
1 Pecco Bagnaia
Started: 4th Sprint: 1st Finished: 3rd
It’s maybe time to accept that, based on the evidence that we have, that Pecco Bagnaia simply isn’t very good around the Mandalika circuit.
He’s never quite clicked with the Indonesian track - so to successfully run a weekend of damage limitation where he reduced the deficit to Jorge Martin in the championship battle means that it’s a case of a job well done.
Sure, he didn’t win on Sunday, but a grand prix podium combined with a sprint win didn’t look particularly likely on Friday evening when he'd struggled in practice - and the bounce back was impressive.
2 Pedro Acosta
Started: 3rd Sprint: 6th Finished: 2nd
Mandalika felt like something of a coming-of-age story for Pedro Acosta. He's already been able to run the pace to fight for podiums despite still being in his rookie season, but it had felt like there was always an element missing in his racecraft.
There was none of that on Sunday though, with the 20-year-old doing a stellar job of taking his tyres to the line and managing the gap to both his target in front and his hunters behind.
3 Jorge Martin
Started: 1st Sprint: 10th Finished: 1st
An absolutely dominant victory on Sunday and the maximum 25 points has to be tempered somewhat by the fact that Jorge Martin once again failed to score at Mandalika on a day he'd led from a dominant pole.
His sprint crash, a repeat performance of 12 months ago, felt like a completely unnecessary mistake, and it very much dented what should have been a flawless weekend.
4 Marco Bezzecchi
Started: 2nd Sprint: 4th Finished: 5th
The sort of really solid weekend that Marco Bezzecchi needs right now. His decent pace, decent results and good qualifying shows that he’s finally starting to unlock the puzzle of Michelin’s new rear tyre.
He's not the only year-old Ducati rider who has been struggling with it, and recent results are starting to build up a trend of consistency that should keep building as we head deeper into MotoGP's Asian leg where he always performs well.
5 Franco Morbidelli
Started: 9th Sprint: 5th Finished: 4th
More consistency and another steady weekend for Franco Morbidelli as he continues closing down on the other Ducati GP24 riders.
He didn’t have the pace for the podium fight on Sunday, but did a stellar job of defensive riding to make sure that he at least clung onto the hope of third for as long as possible despite being on a less durable tyre than most of his opposition, and did so without mistakes.
It’s all coming together for him - maybe a little too late for 2024 but it's a good omen for 2025.
6 Marc Marquez
Started: 12th Sprint: 3rd Finished: DNF
A frustrating weekend for Marc Marquez. He was lucky to take a podium in Saturday’s sprint race when Martin crashed out, never quite having the pace of the GP24 Ducatis all weekend - and he got totally bogged down in the early stages of Sunday’s race tangling with fellow GP23 racer Fabio di Giannantonio.
That battle cost him the chance to be closer to the leaders - although ultimately that was all in vain anyway when his bike rather dramatically exploded and caught fire under him.
7 Johann Zarco
Started: 7th Sprint: 8th Finished: 9th
Johann Zarco has, rather surprisingly, been Honda’s leading light in recent weeks, and this race was no different as the Frenchman continued to be the only Honda rider able to walk the tightrope between asking for too much and not taking enough from the RC213V.
Admitting that he rolled off just a little in the closing laps rather than risk losing out on a top 10 result to a silly mistake and tricky conditions, it’s nonetheless an excellent marker of both Zarco's talent and Honda’s tentative progress.
8 Fabio Quartararo
Started: 6th Sprint: 12th Finished: 7th
It’s probably a good sign for Yamaha that Fabio Quartararo was still deeply unhappy with his weekend at Mandalika because on paper it was a very solid outing for the 2021 world champion.
After finally finding his mojo again in qualifying, something that’s been perhaps even more lacking than his race pace, Quartararo's sprint was disappointing but he did a solid job on Sunday.
Things are looking better, at last, and Yamaha was able to confirm that at a very different circuit from Misano. One, maybe, for Quartararo to appreciate more with hindsight.
9 Maverick Vinales
Started: 10th Sprint: 7th Finished: 6th
Maverick Vinales was delighted with his pace post-race after setting race-winning laptimes in the middle of it, but that was largely irrelevant to his overall weekend when he still ended up a long way away from the podium battle.
His usual fast but inconsistent performance was made to look a little better than it should have thanks to the chaos going on around him.
10 Augusto Fernandez
Started: 21st Sprint: DNF Finished: DNF
It’s a shame that we didn’t get to see more of Augusto Fernandez’s potential in the main race before a fluke mechanical issue left him watching from the sidelines.
The Tech3 racer thinks that he actually achieved something of a breakthrough over the course of the weekend at Mandalika - and it could, unfortunately, be a while before he gets a chance to shine as much as he could have had he made it to the end of one of his final races in the premier class (for now).
11 Taka Nakagami
Started: 18th Sprint: 17th Finished: 12th
Unfortunate to have been sent to the back of the results sheet by a tyre pressure penalty, Taka Nakagami’s weekend was better than it’ll be remembered in the history books despite the fairly significant challenge of jumping onto Honda’s new aero package on only Saturday morning.
The result was a lot of short-term pain as he adapted to it, but at least it means he now has that experience ahead of his home race at Motegi next time.
12 Raul Fernandez
Started: 11th Sprint: 19th Finished: 10th
An OK weekend for Raul Fernandez, but only OK.
He went into the weekend expecting to be closer to the front given Aprilia’s past form at Mandalika, but the end result was rather more subdued, with the only real positive from it for him being that he wasn’t too far away from the factory bikes of Vinales and Aleix Espargaro.
13 Luca Marini
Started: 17th Sprint: 18th Finished: DNF
It’s a shame that we didn’t get to see more of what Luca Marini could have been capable of on Sunday, given that the Honda finally seems to be on the rise and that the race that played out is the sort that he’s very good at managing.
However, as he was one of the victims of Jack Miller’s crash on the opening lap, it’s instead a case of what could have been for the Italian.
At least there's an important chance to continue the good work at Honda’s home circuit this coming weekend.
14 Fabio Di Giannantonio
Started: 8th Sprint: 9th Finished: DNF
Given the physical condition that he’s still in as he debates whether to go under the knife to repair his dislocating shoulder, the early pace that di Giannantonio showed at Mandalika was somewhat promising.
However, it was all for nought in the end when a mistake from the Italian meant that he ended the race in the gravel instead of inside the top eight, as he should have.
15 Alex Marquez
Started: 14th Sprint: 14th Finished: DNF
A weekend to forget for Alex Marquez, who seemed to spend more of it in the gravel traps at Mandalika than he did on the circuit.
Battered and bruised afterwards, the best thing that can be said is that at least Sunday’s fall wasn’t his fault as he was one of Miller's victims.
He will be hoping for (and, given the nature of the circuit, should expect) more at Motegi this coming weekend.
16 Aleix Espargaro
Started: 13th Sprint: 16th Finished: DNF
Given that he was wiped out of Sunday’s race on the opening lap, it’s hard to read too much into Espargaro’s performances at Mandalika.
However, a disappointing sprint and a rather lacklustre qualifying meant that there wasn’t really much to write home about even before he was collected by Miller’s KTM.
He'll be doubly frustrating given high expectations coming into the weekend, but it's also perhaps a sign of the state of the Aprilia right now.
17 Brad Binder
Started: 19th Sprint: 13th Finished: 8th
A weekend to forget for Brad Binder that all stemmed from failing to make the Q2 cut on Friday.
Technical issues in qualifying then stranded him way down the grid, and from there on it was just a case of doing what he could.
But, with KTM’s rookie sensation Acosta very much at the sharp end of the race, it’s perhaps another sign of the increasing pressure Binder is going to find himself under next season.
18 Alex Rins
Started: 15th Sprint: 15th Finished: 11th
Quite the disappointing weekend for Alex Rins, all things considered.
It looked like there was more potential from the Yamaha, and while his team-mate Quartararo might also have been left frustrated with his results, Rins’ were significantly worse.
It’s hard to explain away finishing last (on the road, at least) in a race where only 12 saw the finish line and when you’re riding a bike that is without doubt better than it was a few races ago.
19 Enea Bastianini
Started: 5th Sprint: 2nd Finished: DNF
Mistakes from Enea Bastianini are a pretty unusual thing; you have to go all the way back to the last race of 2023 to find his previous one in a Sunday race.
The one he made in this weekend’s race nicely highlighted that it’s not just Bagnaia and Martin capable of pushing too hard and making mistakes with the GP24’s rather sensitive front tyre, though - and while it might have ended whatever title hopes he had, it shouldn’t be too hard for him to convince himself that it was an easy thing to do.
20 Joan Mir
Started: 20th Sprint: DNF Finished: DNF
An unfortunately normal weekend for Joan Mir where we saw the Repsol Honda rider pushing beyond the limits of a bike that, while improving rapidly, is still far from being the title-winning package that he had at Suzuki.
He needs to find a bit of self-restraint if he wants to see the end of more races - and should seriously consider it right now because fellow Honda rider Zarco is making him look a little bad by highlighting the potential of the bike.
21 Jack Miller
Started: 16th Sprint: 11th Finished: DNF
You can’t really expect to be ranked anywhere else but at the bottom when you take out three rivals on the opening lap.
Miller’s move, while not quite deserving of a sanction, was nonetheless a little reckless, and it’s a shame that others also paid a price for it.
Unfortunately for the Australian, it was also the culmination of what was overall a very mediocre weekend for him, with little in the way of pace.
