Fermin Aldeguer told he’s stronger than Marc Marquez in crucial area, his rivals could be ‘screwed’

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Mat Oxley thinks Fermin Aldeguer has found the “missing piece” that could leave his MotoGP rivals “screwed” after scoring his first MotoGP Grand Prix win at Mandalika.

The 20-year-old took a dominant win in last Sunday’s Indonesian Grand Prix, thanks partly to KTM rival Pedro Acosta backing up the field to seal his P2 finish at Mandalika. Aldeguer took the finish line with a 6.987-second lead over his Murcian rival in only his 18th MotoGP race.

Marco Bezzecchi’s crash with Marc Marquez on lap one of the Indonesian GP, which saw the latter sustain a collarbone injury, also played a part in Aldeguer’s advantage. Bezzecchi beat Aldeguer to win the Mandalika Sprint with his superb pace to overturn a two-second deficit.

Without Bezzecchi to challenge him on Sunday, Aldeguer ran away to win the Indonesian GP after the Gresini rookie quickly broke Acosta’s spirit. The factory-contracted Ducati prospect is also now the second-youngest rider to ever win a premier class race behind only Marquez.

Mat Oxley hails Fermin Aldeguer as the Ducati rider with the best cornering speed

Oxley believes Aldeguer qualifying P2 for the Indonesian GP was game-changing for him, as the Gresini talent struggled to fulfil his potential in previous races due to being “screwed” in the pack. Aldeguer’s previous best qualifying was P4 at Le Mans, yet his average is just P9.8.

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

Now, it could be Aldeguer’s rivals who are “screwed” by having to start behind the Spaniard, who found the “missing piece” after focusing on his qualifying speed instead of race pace in practice for the Indonesian GP. Oxley also feels the Mandalika circuit suited Aldeguer’s style.

Riders need strong cornering pace to exploit Mandalika’s characteristics, and Oxley believes there is not a stronger rider among the Ducati stable than Aldeguer in that key area. Gresini teammate Alex Marquez was the second-best Ducati in the Indonesian GP but 7.896s adrift.

“Aldeguer’s debut MotoGP victory has been coming for months,” Oxley has told Motor Sport Magazine. “Since the season started, he’s frequently had flashes of brilliance that suggested a bright future.

“The missing piece was time attacks because if you’re not towards the front of the grid, you’re screwed. At Motegi, his practice pace was massively faster than his race pace. But he was stuck in the pack, so he couldn’t move forward.

“Aldeguer’s big strength is corner speed, more than any other Ducati rider, which is normal for riders who’ve just graduated from Moto2, where corner speed is everything… If this is Aldeguer as a rookie, only the gods know what he might do over the next few years.”

What has Marc Marquez said about Fermin Aldeguer’s cornering speed strength?

Aldeguer was the clear top Ducati rider for large parts of Sunday’s Indonesian GP, with Alex Marquez only joining the fight for a podium finish in the final third of the race. The Gresini duo were even the top Ducatis in the Sprint, with Aldeguer 5.675s ahead of Marquez in P4.

It would have been interesting to see where Aldeguer would have finished the Indonesian GP without Bezzecchi colliding with Marc Marquez on the first lap. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi was rapid through Mandalika’s sweeping Turn 7-8-9 sequence to make inroads into the other riders.

But Aldeguer’s speed in the corners also impressed works Ducati ace Marc Marquez around Mandalika, like it did Oxley. The 2025 riders’ champion admitted it was a weak point of his in Indonesia last weekend riding the Ducati GP25, while Aldeguer impressed on a Ducati GP24.

“We don’t have our usual advantages here because we can’t brake late and hard and we can’t use our drive with this special tyre,” Marquez said after the Mandalika Sprint.

“So, you need to flow a lot at this track, with corner speed, which is our weak point. This is also a strong point of Aldeguer.”