MotoGP Mandalika: Race preview

MotoGP gets ready for lights out in Lombok this week as the Pertamina Mandalika Circuit welcomes its inaugural race.

At the end of the Jerez Test, the world seemed to be at Ducati’s feet and in some ways after the Grand Prix of Qatar and the start of 2022, it remains so, but it’s a more complex equation than it appeared. It was ultimately the GP21 of Gresini Racing’s Enea Bastianini that took a stunning victory under the floodlights in Qatar as the Italian sophomore secured his first MotoGP win and the first for his team since 2006 – as well as making it look impressively achievable. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Brad Binder claimed a convincing second with an equally convincing debut for Repsol Honda’s new RC213V in third in the hands of Pol Espargaro too – who led more MotoGP laps in one race that he had on all his previous starts combined – there’s a lot to unpack on the road to Lombok. So let’s go!

First, Ducati. For Pecco Bagnaia and teammate Jack Miller it was a pretty difficult first race of the season. Still looking for that sweet spot with the GP22 before crashing out and, in Miller’s case, suffering an electrical issue, it made for a damp squib for the Ducati Lenovo Team and one they’ll be wanting to right as soon as possible. Finding the sweet spot may be aided by experience gained in the Mandalika Test though, and reliability has seldom been an issue for the Bologna bullets, so there are two reasons to expect more red in the fight for the podium at Mandalika. Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin fell victim to Bagnaia’s mistake too, so the could-have-beens create a mystery there, and his teammate Johann Zarco seemed to go a little under the radar in eighth. Have they got more in the locker?

Looking at Bastianini’s