Jorge Martin finished Friday’s Indonesian Grand Prix in third place, but the result concealed a more difficult day than the classification suggested. Raul Fernandez was almost 0.5 seconds faster and Marco Bezzecchi held a 0.3-second advantage. Martin, who missed last year’s Mandalika race through injury, did not leave the circuit feeling ready to fight for victory.

The main weakness emerged during the race-pace phase. Before switching to fresh soft tyres and a low-fuel run, Martin was only seventh and could not maintain a sequence of fast laps. He described an unusual problem at the front: the tyre felt as though it was getting cold even though the track temperature was approaching 60 degrees. Martin also said he was losing the front throughout the circuit, which damaged his confidence and led to a series of mistakes.

A late time attack improved the picture. On fresh soft tyres and low fuel, Martin moved two places ahead of Marc Marquez, although he considered the lap good rather than exceptional. He also described Fernandez as “a step ahead” after the opening day and acknowledged that he remained some way from the level he wanted.

The championship pressure

Martin’s advantage over Marquez in the standings has been reduced to two points after Motegi. That makes a solution on Saturday especially important, particularly because Martin judged Marquez and Ducati to be very close in both the time attack and race pace. His priority is to recover the front-end feeling; if he can do that, he believes he can return to the fight for victory. His message about the rest of the weekend was unequivocal: “Marc will be there.”