Jorge Martin Reclaims Momentum in Mandalika MotoGP Warm-Up, Leading Marc Marquez by a Whisper

Jorge Martin edges out Marc Marquez by a narrow margin in the Mandalika MotoGP warm-up session, with Bagnaia finishing in 14th place. The gap between Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez was a mere 0.050 seconds in the warm-up rounds for the Indonesian MotoGP.

MotoGP championship frontrunner Jorge Martin rebounded from his Sprint race disappointment by topping the morning warm-up session for the Indonesian MotoGP at Mandalika.

Pole position holder Jorge Martin experienced a significant reduction in his championship lead over Francesco Bagnaia, which was cut down to 12 points, following a crash in the initial lap of the Sprint that led him to lose his leading position.

However, he returned to top form this morning, as every rider switched to the medium rear tyre, managing to maintain the lead for the majority of the ten-minute session.

Marc Marquez, who initially secured the third spot after the Ducati team's Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini in the Sprint, momentarily surpassed Martin until the Pramac competitor reclaimed his position by a margin of 0.050 seconds on his last lap.

Gresini competitor Marquez must have another explosive beginning to climb the positions from 12th place at the start.

Franco Morbidelli, Martin's teammate, and newcomer Pedro Acosta from GASGAS clinched the third and fourth spots, respectively. Meanwhile, Raul Fernandez, who finished 19th and last in the Sprint, made an unexpected comeback to secure fifth place for Trackhouse Aprilia.

Bastianini, who finished merely 0.1 seconds behind Bagnaia in the Sprint, ranked eighth in this morning's session, while the two-time defending world champion was further back in 14th place, trailing by 0.648 seconds.

Bagnaia has been falling behind in the last segment of the track.

Michelin has announced that for today's complete race, racers can once more choose between the soft and hard front tyre options.

Nonetheless, regarding the back tire, although "a few riders are contemplating using a soft tire" like the one all riders opted for in the Sprint, 'Michelin advises against this choice, which evidently isn't meant to offer steady performance throughout 27 laps on an extremely hot and challenging circuit'.

Rather, the preferred option is the medium rear, which was unanimously adopted by the riders during their warm-up sessions. This morning, Martin, Bastianini, and Bagnaia opted to combine it with the hard front.

Marc Marquez and Morbidelli opted for the soft front during their warm-up session, however, Marquez later indicated his intention to likely switch to the hard option for the grand prix.

Starting from the front row, Marco Bezzecchi and his VR46 teammate Fabio di Giannantonio will be sporting a unique red and white color scheme for the race on Sunday.

Bezzecchi narrowly escaped a potential crash by coming very close to colliding with the rear of race frontrunner Bagnaia during the Sprint.

Nursing injuries from a quick tumble on Saturday, Alex Marquez was the sole rider to take a spill in the warm-up, following a loss of control at the back of his GP23.

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