It took 133 days for Marco Bezzecchi to finally shake off the curse that wrecked the middle of his season, as Motorsport.com Italia reports. The Aprilia Racing rider grabbed a victory in Indonesia that had been missing since his stunning triumph at Mugello, a result that once looked like a springboard to the 2026 MotoGP crown before turning into a dark period for his career. In a strange twist, it feels like full circle at Mandalika, the very track where he made his last major error last year before embarking on a run of six wins in 12 grands prix.
The painful question now is whether it has arrived too late to keep that title dream alive. Following the Indonesian Grand Prix, he sits 46 points behind his garage neighbor and 44 points back from another tough rival, with just five rounds left and 185 points still on the table. Those gaps are massive to claw back against two riders who have largely avoided mistakes when it mattered most. Bezzecchi's standings have been heavily damaged by zero-point finishes at Assen, Misano, and a sprint race, alongside a suspension following an incident with a commissaire at Brno and left collarbone and left knee injuries picked up at the Sachsenring. With 62 more points on the board, we would be having an entirely different conversation.
It has been a perfect weekend. I am very happy not to have lost any points compared to Martin and only three compared to Bezzecchi,
Knowing the reality, the Aprilia rider is ready to take extreme risks. "In this moment the reality is that the World Championship is more lost than won, so you definitely have to take some risks," Bezzecchi said after taking his fifth win of the season, which also marked the 300th victory for an Italian rider in the premier class. Yet, the harsh truth is that Aprilia might soon ask him to lend a hand to his teammate, with technical director Fabiano Sterlacchini admitting that tough choices will eventually have to be made given the factory's rare opportunity.
That reality stings even more after a weekend where the RS-GP machines showed overwhelming dominance over Ducati, yet the championship leader left Lombok with the exact same advantage of 2 points over Marc Marquez. Aprilia achieved their first-ever MotoGP poker at Mandalika, but the Spanish rider could only manage third in the long race. Between a front tyre pressure issue in the sprint and an incident between Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez at the first turn, Marquez inherited an unexpected victory despite only finishing sixth in the main race.
For Marquez, it was a dream scenario. "It has been a perfect weekend. I am very happy not to have lost any points compared to Martin and only three compared to Bezzecchi," the nine-time world champion confirmed, despite holding the championship lead having won only one of the 17 grands prix held so far alongside four sprints. Meanwhile, the championship leader insists he will fight relentlessly until the end. "We are still in the fight and that is the important thing, I am back in the lead and this position swap with Marc continues," he stated.
While a tiny spark of hope remains for Bezzecchi, the upcoming race at Phillip Island could prove to be a last-chance saloon. If he cannot make significant ground there, Aprilia may well ask him to play the role of a squire for his stablemate across the final four rounds. Either way, the Italian machine showed in Indonesia that he can play a decisive referee role in this wild title fight.
