MotoGP heads to the shores of Lombok for the 2026 Indonesian Grand Prix from October 9 to 11, with Mandalika hosting the second leg of of the Asian swing after Marc Marquez came out on top in Japan.
Here are five fun facts ahead of the race weekend, with fans able to catch the MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3 and Moto4 Asia Cup action live on SPOTV NOW.
Marquez seeks to break Mandalika curse
Marquez will seek his first Sunday race finish at Mandalika after four visits without completing a Grand Prix.
The Spaniard did not start the inaugural race in 2022 after a heavy warm-up crash left him with concussion. He returned the following year but crashed out while riding for Repsol Honda.
A switch to Gresini Ducati brought no change in fortune in 2024, when a technical failure forced him to retire after completing 11 laps.
In 2025, his race lasted just six corners after he was hit by Marco Bezzecchi on the opening lap, which left him with a right collarbone injury that ended his season prematurely.
Survival of the fittest
Simply reaching the chequered flag has often been a challenge at Mandalika, where crashes and technical failures have repeatedly thinned the MotoGP field.
Only 14 riders were classified finishers in both 2023 and 2025, while the 2024 edition had the fewest finishers, with just 12 of the 21 starters completing the race.
Four riders were eliminated in an opening-lap collision, while Marquez retired with a technical problem and Enea Bastianini crashed out after setting the fastest lap. Every finisher scored points.
Ironically, the rain-hit inaugural race in 2022 had the fewest retirements. Despite a roughly 75-minute weather delay, only two did not finish the race.
Indonesia’s sole double winner
Across six Indonesian Grands Prix at Sentul and Mandalika, Diogo Moreira is the only rider to have won more than once in the main races across all three classes.
The Brazilian claimed his first Grand Prix victory in Moto3 at Mandalika in 2023, becoming his country’s first winner in any class since Alex Barros won the 2005 Portuguese Grand Prix. Two years later, he returned to the top step at the same circuit, this time in the Moto2 class.
Razgatlioglu returns to title-winning ground
Toprak Razgatlioglu visits Mandalika for the first time as a MotoGP rider, but his connection with the circuit began before it joined the Grand Prix calendar.
The Turkish rider secured his first WorldSBK title there in November 2021, finishing second behind Jonathan Rea in the opening race to seal the championship with a race to spare. His triumph ended Rea’s run of six consecutive titles and gave Yamaha their first riders’ championship in the series since Ben Spies won in 2009.
Now racing for Prima Pramac Yamaha, Razgatlioglu returns to the scene of that career-defining moment to tackle Mandalika on MotoGP machinery.
The Doctor in the house
Valentino Rossi finally got his chance to ride at Mandalika in January 2026, having retired from MotoGP just months before the circuit joined the calendar in March 2022.
The nine-time world champion took to the track on a Yamaha R1 as part of the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Riders Academy programme, which also gave 10 selected Indonesian riders the opportunity to train alongside members of his academy.
It added a new chapter to Rossi’s history in Indonesia, three decades after he raced in the country’s first motorcycle Grand Prix at Sentul in 1996. He returned the following year to win the 125cc race, one of his 11 victories on the way to his first world title.
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