Ducati Lenovo Team heads to Indonesia for Round 17 of the 2026 MotoGP season with two very different objectives. Marc Márquez arrives second in the riders’ standings on 331 points, just two behind the leader, after taking the maximum 37 points available at Motegi by winning both the Sprint and Sunday’s Grand Prix. Francesco Bagnaia, meanwhile, has 164 points and is looking for a more competitive and consistent weekend with the factory Ducati team.

The venue is the Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit, a track where Ducati has won the last three Grands Prix. Bagnaia took victory in 2023, Jorge Martín followed in 2024 and Fermín Aldeguer completed that sequence in 2025. The record gives Ducati a strong recent reference point, although the previous Indonesian weekend also showed how quickly the circuit can turn against the factory operation.

Márquez wants to break his Mandalika pattern

Márquez says his confidence in the motorcycle has been consistently good since Aragón. That feeling carried into Japan, where Ducati’s rider remained competitive throughout the weekend and fought for victory on his way to the Sprint and Grand Prix double. The result put him firmly back within reach of the championship lead as the season moved into its seventeenth round.

Indonesia has not produced the same level of comfort for him. Márquez describes Mandalika as a circuit that has not traditionally suited him and points out that he has never finished the main race there. His stated target is therefore more specific than simply adding another strong result: he wants to reverse that record, complete a full weekend and carry the momentum from Motegi into a circuit where his previous visits have been difficult.

That challenge comes with a meaningful championship incentive. With only two points separating Márquez from first place, every Sprint and Grand Prix carries weight, but the Indonesian schedule also leaves little room for an untidy weekend. Ducati will need to translate the rider’s recent confidence into speed and race-day execution without allowing Mandalika’s demanding layout to repeat the problems seen last year.

Bagnaia is looking for a better connection

Bagnaia approaches the round from a different position within the team’s priorities. He says the Motegi weekend produced important points, but also admits that he struggled considerably with his riding. His objective in Indonesia is to continue working with the team, recover his best feeling with the motorcycle and return to the battle for the positions at the front.

His record at the circuit provides a reason for optimism: Bagnaia won the Indonesian Grand Prix in 2023, the first of Ducati’s current run of three victories there. However, the 2025 event was much more difficult for the factory team. Márquez was involved in a crash, while Bagnaia fell on lap eight after a troubled weekend. The contrast between Ducati’s overall results and the factory riders’ experience is an important part of the context for this year’s return.

Ducati’s competitiveness was still visible through the independent Desmosedici GP results. Aldeguer won last year’s Grand Prix, Pedro Acosta finished second for KTM and Álex Márquez took third on another Ducati. That podium confirmed the bike’s potential at Mandalika, even as the factory pairing endured a far less productive event. Marco Bezzecchi won the 2025 Sprint on an Aprilia, adding another reminder that the short race can produce a different competitive picture from Sunday’s Grand Prix.

What Mandalika demands

The Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit measures 4.3 km and contains 17 corners: 11 right-handers and six left-handers. The Sprint is scheduled for 13 laps and the Grand Prix for 27 laps. Those distances make both races substantial scoring opportunities, while the combination of direction changes and faster sections places a premium on precision as well as outright pace.

The circuit record is held by Marco Bezzecchi, who set a 1:28.832 on an Aprilia in 2025. That same time secured pole position for last year’s event. The fastest lap during the 2025 Grand Prix went to Aldeguer on a Ducati, with a 1:30.499. Joan Mir recorded the venue’s listed maximum speed of 321.4 km/h on a Honda in 2025, underlining the speed reached even on a relatively compact circuit.

The numbers sketch out the balance Ducati must find. The lap record and pole time point to the importance of qualifying performance, while the race-lap mark and the 27-lap Grand Prix place equal emphasis on maintaining a strong pace over distance. For Márquez, the task is to combine that precision with a clean race finish. For Bagnaia, it is to restore the confidence that he says was missing at Motegi and make the circuit’s history with Ducati work in his favour.

Ducati’s position in the championship

Ducati leads the constructors’ championship with 469 points. Ducati Lenovo Team is second in the team standings on 495 points, giving the factory operation a clear collective reason to maximise both riders’ weekends even as their immediate goals differ. Márquez’s 331 points keep the title fight close, while Bagnaia’s 164 points make a major contribution from him valuable to the team classification as well as to his own recovery.

Márquez brings 299 Grand Prix starts to Indonesia, divided into 221 in MotoGP, 32 in Moto2 and 46 in 125cc. His career totals stand at 105 wins—79 in MotoGP, 16 in Moto2 and 10 in 125cc—along with 171 podiums, 22 Sprint victories and 105 pole positions. His nine world titles include eight in the premier-class and intermediate-class categories listed for his record: MotoGP championships in 2025, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2014 and 2013, the 2012 Moto2 title and the 2010 125cc crown.

Bagnaia’s record includes 250 Grand Prix starts: 145 in MotoGP, 36 in Moto2 and 69 in Moto3. He has 41 wins—31 in MotoGP, eight in Moto2 and two in Moto3—plus 86 podiums, 14 Sprint wins and 35 pole positions. His three world titles came in MotoGP in 2023 and 2022, and in Moto2 in 2018.

Mandalika therefore offers Ducati a chance to strengthen both sides of its 2026 campaign. Márquez can take the championship lead with another high-value weekend, but first has to finish the main race at a circuit where he has never done so. Bagnaia has the strongest possible recent historical reference in the form of his 2023 victory, yet needs a more settled feeling on the motorcycle than he found in Japan. The Sprint’s 13 laps and the Grand Prix’s 27 will test whether Ducati’s recent Mandalika record can translate into results for its factory team.