Luca Marini was the lone representative of the Honda HRC Castrol team and valiantly fought for tenth after the withdrawal of Aleix Espargaro in Mandalika.

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Indonesian Grand Prix MotoGP 2026 Round 17 Sunday, 11th October 2026 Indonesian Grand Prix, Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit Top ten fight rounds out Indonesian GP for Marini Luca Marini was the lone representative of the Honda HRC Castrol team and valiantly fought for tenth after the withdrawal of Aleix Espargaro in Mandalika. The action continued to heat up at the Mandalika International Circuit with ambient temperatures rising as the MotoGP World Championship grid began their final preparation for the 27-lap Indonesian Grand Prix. A new record crowd of over 65,000 on race day embraced the heat to witness a thrilling race. Making another incredible start when the lights went out, Luca Marini was able to repeat his start to the Sprint and immediately inserted himself into the battle for the top ten. Having made up five positions in just a few hundred meters, the Italian focused on maximising his early positive feeling and went on the attack. Keeping Quartararo at bay in the first half of the race, fading edge grip would limit Marini’s defensive capabilities and eventually drop him back into the hands of Bastianini and Binder. Despite this, Marini was able to cross the line in 12th place and once again finish as the top Honda rider. Leaving Indonesia with a total of 108 points, the #10 sits comfortably as the leading Honda man also in the World Championship standings and remains just 17 points from the top ten. After Saturday’s action, the Honda HRC Castrol team and Aleix Espargaro elected to withdraw from Sunday at the Indonesian GP. Given the physical restrictions felt by Espargaro already as a result of his injuries sustained at the start of the year, all involved decided this was the best course of action. The Honda HRC Castrol squad and the rest of the MotoGP World Championship will enjoy a week off before an Australian, Malaysian and Qatar GP triple header starts on Friday, October 22 in Phillip Island. Luca Marini 10 Honda HRC Castrol  “Again I was able to make a really good start and gain a lot of positions at the start. Once I was there in the top ten, I focused on defending my position as much as possible. The feeling with the bike and especially the tyres was a lot better than Saturday and we can see that from the pace in the first half. After 12 laps the edge grip started to drop and it became really difficult to defend from Fabio and then the KTM pair. At the end it is not as good as weekend as we were expecting, especially when last year we were so strong, but we at least finished as the top Honda again.” View full results

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