Marco Bezzecchi sends Fermin Aldeguer message straight after beating him to Mandalika Sprint win

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Aprilia star Marco Bezzecchi sent Fermin Aldeguer a message on the 2025 Indonesian Grand Prix Sprint podium after beating the Gresini rookie by only 0.157s at Mandalika.

It is the smallest margin between the winner and runner-up in a Sprint Race during the 2025 MotoGP season so far. Marc Marquez had set the previous three smallest margins in a Sprint in 2025 after he beat Alex Marquez at Assen (0.351s), Le Mans (0.530s) and COTA (0.795s).

Bezzecchi now has the honour of winning a Sprint by the smallest margin so far in 2025 after denying Aldeguer his first win of any kind as a MotoGP rider. The Aprilia star pulled off a late dive on the Gresini rookie at Turn 10 to take the lead on the final lap of the Mandalika Sprint.

Marco Bezzecchi ‘didn’t expect’ to catch Fermin Aldeguer to win the Indonesian Grand Prix Sprint Race

Bezzecchi is enjoying a great weekend so far at Mandalika, having also secured pole position for the Indonesian GP earlier on Saturday. It is the 26-year-old’s seventh career pole to date in the premier class, yet starting from P1 did not mean the Italian won the Mandalika Sprint.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Marco Bezzecchi from net worth to race number

A poor launch left Bezzecchi running in P8 while Aldeguer scuppered clear in the lead of the Mandalika Sprint in search of the 20-year-old’s first win in MotoGP. The victory also seemed likely for the Murcian when his bitter rival Pedro Acosta of KTM crashed out of second place.

Even after Bezzecchi beat Aldeguer to win the Mandalika Sprint, the Rimini native admitted that he did not expect to catch the Ducati-contracted gem let alone beat him. So, Bezzecchi congratulated Aldeguer after their “fantastic battle” he won with a late dive under braking.

Bezzecchi said on the Mandalika Sprint podium: “It was a fantastic race. Unfortunately, we have to understand what happened at the start because I lost a lot of time. After, I was so confident [and] so fast.

“Fermin was already gone, so I didn’t expect to catch him. But I didn’t give up. It’s fantastic. I’m destroyed but it was incredible in the last lap. I tried my all to win. I wanted this win so bad. It was a fantastic battle, congrats to him, but also to all my guys at the Aprilia factory.”

Marco Bezzecchi’s late charge in the Mandalika Sprint caught Fermin Aldeguer by surprise

Marc Marquez gave Bezzecchi back two of the seven places that the Aprilia ace lost with his poor start in the Mandalika Sprint when the Ducati rider ran deep and ran Yamaha star Alex Rins off the road. Bezzecchi also then overtook Gresini star Alex Marquez on the second lap.

Lap 5 would also yield another two places, as Bezzecchi dived past Luca Marini of Honda for P4 under braking for Turn 1 right as Acosta fell from P2 trying to chase Aldeguer. Trackhouse star Raul Fernandez was then Bezzecchi’s next victim on Lap 8/13 with a perfect pass at T10.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Fermin Aldeguer with his rise to MotoGP and height

Bezzecchi’s sweeping line through Turns 7, 8 and 9 gave him the ideal run on Fernandez for Turn 10, which would also mark Aldeguer’s downfall on the final lap. Aprilia pilot Bezzecchi faced a 2.145s deficit to Aldeguer after he overtook Fernandez and only caught him on L12.

Aldeguer rode a faultless race but he chose against defending the inside line for Turn 10 on the final lap, having had no knowledge of where Bezzecchi was strong during the Mandalika Sprint. So, Bezzecchi did not require two invitations and let off the brake to snatch the lead.

Gresini rookie Aldeguer tried to fight straight back to take his first MotoGP win in the Sprint at the Indonesian GP, but Bezzecchi had him covered around the outside at Turn 12. It thus became impossible for Aldeguer to respond, as Fernandez rounded out the podium places.

Victory in the Mandalika Sprint also means Bezzecchi is now a three-time career Sprint Race winner. Bezzecchi won the 2025 Misano Sprint after Marc Marquez crashed out shortly after taking the lead, which was also his first Sprint win since the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix at Assen.