History has not been kind to Marc Marquez at the Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit. Despite showing serious pace every single time he has rolled into the venue, the Ducati Lenovo Team rider has simply never seen the chequered flag on a Sunday in Indonesia. Now, as the flyaway tour rolls on, the question on everyone's mind is whether 2026 will finally be the year he breaks that curse.
The troubles at this track go all the way back to its arrival on the calendar in 2022. That first weekend turned into a disaster when a massive Turn 7 highside during the morning Warm Up forced him out of the Indonesian GP entirely, alongside the following round in Argentina, after he had already qualified down in P15.
Of course I've never finished a race there; I have been a bit unlucky,
Things did not improve much on his return a year later. Crashing out on both Saturday and Sunday, he walked away from the weekend with zero points to his name. The 2024 campaign offered a slight glimmer of hope when he grabbed bronze in the Saturday Sprint to pick up seven points, but a mechanical failure cruelly ended his grand prix before he could fight for more.
Last year brought even more heartbreak. Arriving in Lombok as the newly crowned MotoGP World Champion, he fought from the third row to finish P6 on Saturday despite serving a Long Lap. Unfortunately, a Lap 1 collision with Marco Bezzecchi of Aprilia Racing wiped out his Sunday and effectively ended his season right then and there.
That was then, and this is now. Armed with six wins in the last nine rounds, Marquez arrives in scorching form and sitting just two points behind in the championship after the Japanese GP, making it the smallest margin after 16 Grands Prix. He is hunting down his eighth world title and attempting to erase the biggest points deficit in the history of the sport.
Despite the momentum, the man himself is keeping a cool head about the task ahead. "Of course I've never finished a race there; I have been a bit unlucky," Marquez explained. "Last year in the Sprint, I didn’t feel bad after the Long Lap Penalty, so let’s see. We need to understand what we can do, but step by step I’m feeling better, and since Aragon, the feeling on the bike has been great."
