Quartararo Locks P7 at 2025 MotoGP Indonesia
Fabio Quartararo demonstrated masterful tire management at Mandalika International Circuit during the 27-lap 2025 Grand Prix of Indonesia, and finished P7 after nursing his tires carefully in extreme heat. Teammate Álex Rins rode inside the Top 3 for nine laps until a sudden tire drop prevented him from defending second place but held on to finish P10.
El Diablo started P8 and held it during the opening stages and moved up to P6 after Marc Marquez and Marco Bezzechi collided. Avoiding the accident, the Frenchman pushed to close the gap to Rins, shadowing him for seven laps but was soon overtaken by Alex Marquez on lap 10. Unshaken, Quartararo chased the group fighting for second place and on lap 15 overtook Luca Marini but lost a position to Brad Binder five laps later. The top 11 riders began to bunch up behind Rins in the final stages, causing frequent changes in the order, but Quartararo kept his head down and held P7 steady to the end, finishing 9.894sec from first.
“It was super hot, so I used different tires – hard front and soft rear – which almost nobody used, but I was comfortable with,” Quartararo said. “I rode well even though it was a difficult race, and I was clever about how I managed the rear tire. I didn’t expect to be so close to the podium, I finished about 2sec from third.”
Rins launched well off the grid and began his fight early onto P4 but was overtaken by Raul Fernandez on lap 3. He spent the first half of the race focusing on closing the gap and it wouldn’t take long for him to pounce. At the end of lap 14, Rins overtook two riders to move up to P3, then snatched P2 from Pedro Acosta on lap 19. With five laps remaining, Álex Márquez snuck past Rins, not to mention eight more riders fighting together for P2, and as his soft-soft tire combo began to drop, Rins dropped down to P10 in two laps. But he continued to push and crossed the finish line in tenth place, 13.223sec from the winner.
“I’m really happy with this Race even though it was very tough for me,” said Rins. “I rode well while defending my position and overtaking, and we knew that we’d suffer at the end with a soft tire, so I tried to control it as best I could until the last five laps when the tire dropped. Riding like that in this Race was so satisfying.”