It was widely expected that Aprilia would dominate the race weekend in Indonesia, and they did … sort of. An Aprilia took pole position under Raul Fernandez, but the two races produced mixed results.

In the Sprint race on Saturday, disaster struck Aprilia in the first corner when a collision between Marco Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez took both riders out of the race. Bezzecchi was uninjured, but Fernandez suffered a break to his right index finger – notably, the finger he uses to operate the front brake. Thereafter, Jorge Martin (Aprilia) led the race and showed pace that promised victory, but a tire pressure warning, followed by a mistake at a corner, eventually cost Martin a place on the podium. He finished fourth.

Martin’s title rival, Marc Marquez (Ducati) accepted the gift of Aprilia’s troubles and took the Sprint win ahead of second place Ai Ogura (Aprilia) and third place Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati).

On Sunday, Aprilia asserted its dominance at this track by taking the four top positions at the checkered flag. Despite his injured finger, Fernandez managed the front brake and led most of the race before being passed by Bezzecchi. Bezzecchi won ahead of Fernandez in second, Martin in third and Ogura in fourth – the first time Aprilia has taken all four of the top spots in a MotoGP race.

Martin leaves Indonesia with a 2 point lead in the championship over Marquez. The next round will be held in Australia in two weeks.