Marco Bezzecchi
Dani Pedrosa has issued his “honest” verdict on an incident involving Ducati ace Marc Marquez in the MotoGP Indonesian Grand Prix Sprint Race at Mandalika on Saturday.
The Mandalika Street Circuit has not proven to be a happy hunting ground for Marquez once again this year. Across three previous entries, the 32-year-old has yet to finish an Indonesian GP. While Marquez secured P3 in the 2024 Sprint, he also only sealed P6 in the 2025 Sprint.
Ducati rider Marquez also only gained P6 in the 2025 Mandalika Sprint after Honda star Luca Marini drew an eight-second penalty following the race due to a tyre pressure infringement. The Italian’s penalty denied him P6, having initially finished 0.151s in front of Marquez in P7.
Marquez only qualified P9 for the Indonesian GP, as well, with a lap time 0.941s off the pace that Aprilia racer Marco Bezzecchi set to secure pole at Mandalika. While Bezzecchi won the Mandalika Sprint Race, he had to recover from a poor start to pip Gresini’s Fermin Aldeguer.
Dani Pedrosa disagrees with Marc Marquez’s Mandalika Sprint penalty for forcing Alex Rins off the track
More may have been possible for Marquez in the Mandalika Sprint had the 2025 champion not received a penalty of his own this Saturday. The Cervera native drew a long lap penalty on the first lap as he forced Alex Rins off the road, which left the Yamaha rider down in P19.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Marc Marquez from net worth to girlfriend
Rins had qualified P4 and was still running in P5 when Marquez tried a late lunge at Turn 10 but carried too much speed into the right-hander. Marquez’s mistake forced Rins to pick up his bike to avoid a bigger collision, but his Sprint was ruined and he ultimately finished P12.
Yet Pedrosa disagrees with the stewards’ quick decision to hand Marquez a long lap penalty for causing a collision with Rins during the Mandalika Sprint. The Ducati ace fell to P13 after serving the penalty, which Pedrosa believes was unjust given it was not an “excessive” error.
Pedrosa said on DAZN, via quotes by Motosan: “No, not for me. I’d like to see it more often because it always goes well. But, honestly, I didn’t think Marc’s action was excessive.
“What I do think is excessive is the consequence that Rins had to bear, that he lost a chance to have a good race because he was well placed, and Marc caused him to go off the track…
“I saw Marc start the first part of the race very determined. We saw how he tried to fight for positions right from the start. He came in strong under braking, but perhaps a little too hard, because it’s clear he pushed Rins out of the way.
“He tried to avoid contact with Marini, which is why he opened up a bit, and that’s what caused him to push Rins out.”
Marc Marquez drew a penalty as he ruined Alex Rins’ Sprint Race at the Indonesian Grand Prix
Marquez might have made contact with Marini at Turn 10 had the Ducati rider not picked up his bike and run deep after carrying too much speed into the corner when trying to overtake Rins for P5 during the Sprint. Marini was just in front of the incident between the Spaniards.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Alex Rins from net worth to career stats
But while Marquez picked up his bike to avoid crashing into a helpless Marini, it ensured his late dive under braking in an attempt to overtake Rins ruined the Yamaha rider’s race. Thus, the stewards felt it was fitting to slap Marquez with a long lap penalty, which left him in P13.
It can be argued that Marquez running Rins off the track was a racing incident, as the Ducati rider was taking action to avoid Marini. Yet it was an incident entirely of the newly-crowned 2025 champion’s making that destroyed a rival’s race, without Rins having any of the blame.
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