Newly crowned world champion Marc Marquez and polesitter Marco Bezzecchi crashed out on the opening lap as Spanish rookie Fermin Aldeguer won a chaotic Indonesia MotoGP on Sunday.
Ducati-Gresini rider Aldeguer, 20, pulled away after Marquez and Bezzecchi collided to cruise to victory.
He finished more than six seconds ahead of KTM’s Pedro Acosta in second and nearly eight seconds in front of teammate Alex Marquez in third.
Bezzecchi had dominated qualifying on Saturday with a lap record at the Mandalika track, but had a disastrous start on Sunday in humid conditions on the island of Lombok.
After slipping from pole to seventh behind Marquez, he tried to overtake Ducati’s Spanish champion but slammed into the back of him.
It sent the pair sliding into the gravel. Both walked away from the collision with Marquez, who was seen clutching his right shoulder.
Marquez was already crowned MotoGP champion last week at Japan’s Motegi and had already set a single-season points record for a MotoGP rider of 545 before Sunday’s race.
His points total was boosted by a sixth-place finish in the sprint because Luca Marini was hit with a post-race tyre pressure penalty.
Despite Aldeguer storming to victory on Sunday, there was a dramatic battle for the podium places between half a dozen riders.
Alex Rins’ Yamaha began to falter, and he fell out of podium contention as Alex Marquez rose to take third and increase his grip on second place in the overall standings behind his brother.
Brad Binder finished in fourth, followed by Marini, Raul Fernandez, and Fabio Quartararo.
Francesco Bagnaia, who started a lowly 16th on the grid, crashed out when he was last on the track in what was a dismal weekend for the two-time world champion.
Joan Mir and Enea Bastianini also crashed out.
Only 19 riders made it to the race’s start line on Sunday, with Maverick Vinales withdrawing with an ongoing shoulder injury.