Marc Marquez won the Indonesian Grand Prix sprint at Mandalika, but was left feeling dizzy after the finish. The Ducati rider said it was the first time he had experienced that sensation after a race and described Saturday afternoon as a nightmare, with the intensity of the sprint, podium and racing leathers all adding to the ordeal.

Marquez used cold water as part of his recovery. When the dizziness hit, he got out of the golf cart and went to his office to look after himself. The result was his eighth sprint victory of the 2026 season, even though he had gone into the weekend expecting to lose ground to Jorge Martin.

Martin had controlled the race until an apparent tyre-pressure problem with five laps remaining forced him to surrender the lead. A late mistake then sent the Aprilia rider down to fourth. Marquez therefore turned a two-point deficit before the sprint into a four-point championship advantage, moving into the outright lead for the first time this year.

His plan for Sunday’s grand prix is less ambitious than simply chasing another gain. The seven-time world champion said the priority is to avoid giving away many points rather than assume that the advantage will grow. The lead was better than he had expected, but Sunday brings a separate race and a new opportunity for the standings to change.

What happened at Turn 1

The 13-lap sprint opened with polesitter Raul Fernandez colliding with fellow Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi. Davide Brivio argued that Marquez and Martin helped trigger the incident by riding too aggressively. FIM stewards reached a different procedural conclusion, assigning fault to no rider.

Marquez’s account centred on the density of the opening corner: four bikes were running alongside one another, with each rider trying to brake a little later than the next. In that sequence, Fabio Di Giannantonio was behind Marquez and Martin went from fifth to first. Marquez called the moment difficult and close to the limit, but still part of the normal racing risk of a first corner.