The Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit is one of MotoGP’s newest venues, having been inaugurated in 2021 and hosting the discipline since 2022. This was the fourth time that Michelin and its partners had travelled to the island of Lombok, near Bali, to meet Indonesian fans, who turned out in large numbers – more than 140,000 people over the three days of track activities.
As lap times at Mandalika have improved year on year, the 2025 season followed the same trend, despite particularly difficult conditions. Between a very dirty track on Friday and ground temperatures reaching 60°C (50°C in the morning), the riders and their machines were put to the test throughout the weekend. To compensate for these heat conditions and respond to the track configuration, Michelin Motorsport had prepared specific tyres, including rear tyres with a reinforced carcass.
"Increasing the rigidity of the rear tyre was the right decision", said Piero Taramasso, Michelin’s two-wheel competition manager. "Admittedly, with the Medium compound, the tyre took a little longer to reach its peak performance, but it then guaranteed great stability, without ever faltering in its performance. The Soft rear tyre, on the other hand, offered very fast acceleration, allowing riders to chase the clock from the very first corners. For the Tissot Sprint, it was chosen by all the riders, who unanimously praised its consistent performance throughout the 13 laps. We also saw an improvement in the duration of this first race of the weekend, despite the challenging temperatures.
The next day, we experienced an unprecedented situation, which had not occurred since 2023 here at Mandalika, with all five rubber compounds available on the grid! This is a sign that the performance spectrum of our tyres was relevant and that each rider was able to refine their choice according to their strategy and riding style. These results are the fruit of the work of our teams, which enable our partners to go ever further in terms of performance and once again highlight the quality of our tyres."
For the Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia, the MotoGP World Championship teams had three symmetrical tyres (Soft, Medium and Hard) available for the front wheel. For the rear, they could choose between two asymmetrical compounds (Soft or Medium) with a reinforced right shoulder. This choice was dictated by the configuration of the circuit, which has eleven right-hand corners and six left-hand corners, covering a length of 4.301 km, including a short 507 m straight.
Mandalika results and records
Tissot Sprint
On Saturday afternoon, Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) won the Tissot Sprint (13 laps), ahead of Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing) and Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team).
The duration of the Tissot Sprint was reduced from 19’41.354 s to 19’37.047 s, representing an average improvement of more than three tenths of a second per lap.
Grand Prix
On Sunday, the Grand Prix (27 laps) saw victory for Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing), who claimed his first MotoGP win here. He finished ahead of Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), with Alex Márquez (BK8 Gresini Racing) taking the third step on the podium.
The fastest lap record was slightly improved. On lap 9, Fermin Aldeguer stopped the clock at 1’30.499 (compared to 1’30.539 for Enea Bastianini in 2024).
Circuit record
On the sixth lap of the second qualifying session, Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) became the first Grand Prix rider to break the 1’29 min barrier, with a time of 1’28.832 s. The previous record had been held since last year by Jorge Martin, who had lapped in 1’29.088 s.
The next and19thround of the MotoGP World Championship will take place from 17 to 19 October in Australia, for the Liqui Moly Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, at the Phillip Island circuit.
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