WATCH VIDEO - Prediction: Who can stop Fabio Quartararo at Indonesian MotoGP?

MotoGP world champion Fabio Quartararo will start race two of the 2022 season from pole position after breaking lap records for the second consecutive day.
Jorge Martin Fabio Quartararo Johann Zarco Indonesian MotoGP, 19 March 2022
Jorge Martin Fabio Quartararo Johann Zarco Indonesian MotoGP, 19 March 2022
© Gold and Goose Photography

After finishing Friday’s MotoGP FP2 fastest with a new official lap record, t🍰he Monster Energy Yamaha rider went 🎀even better during today’s crash-heavy qualifying session. 

While several riders were tasked with picking up their machinesꦦ from the gravel trap during Q1 and Q2, Quartararo continued his impressive weekend to clinch pole by two tenths from Jorge Martin.

So with that said, can anyone stop Qua𒀰rtararo from taking his first wi♏n of the season?

 


 


 

KTM

After seemingly sorting out their qualifying woes, factory KTM riders Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder have positioned✃ themselves as firm favourites to challenge the Frenchman.🐎 

Wet or dry, Oliveira has been a regular top five r꧙unner, which has also been the case in both qualifying and race trim. 

Although Binder has not been as consistently towards the front as the Portuguese star, the third-year MotoGP rider looks to have just as good a race pace a🍎s Oliveira. 

Furthermore, it should be stressed that Binder is as much of a ‘Sunday man’ as there is on the grid. Th𓆏e former Moto3 world champion will set off from P4 on the grid which is his best ever MotoGP qualifying result, while Oliveira will start from seventh. 

Honda

A firm favourite headi🐼ng into the weekend was Pol Espargaro, not just because of his podium in Qatar, but ꩲalso last month’s test which he topped. 

And if you took FP1 as a guide for the race, then Espargaro would have boosted that claim even furth💙er as he once again finished fastest. 

However, the weekend has slowly worsened for the Spaniard who missed out on a top ten spot in FP2 and therefore 🌊had 𝓀to go through Q1 because of damp conditions affecting FP3. Surprisingly, Espargaro never came close to advancing and will start the race from P16.

Just as big a pre-weekend favourite was team-ma🥀te Marc Marquez, who began his season with a fifth in Lusail. 

Bu๊t with the Honda rider continuing to struggle with the front end of his RC213V machine, uncertainty regarding his chances of victo♊ry remained heading into today. 

And while Marquez was able to be fast at times in free practice - topped FP3 - predominantly in mixed c🃏onditions, qualifying was a total disaster for the eigh﷽t-time world champion. 

Marquez first crashed at turn 13, before a second fall at turn 12 occurred on his final run. Clearly pushing way beyond his limit, Marquez will start from 15th and has done very little t🌱o prove that a win or even podium is now possible. 

Although not unheard of for a rider to come from that far back and challe﷽nge, we have a hard ti𒐪me believing Marquez can pull off such a result tomorrow. 

Suzuki

The same assessment goes the way of Joan Mir who will start even further back in P18. After Alex Rins’s mechanical failures in FP4, and Mir looking a shell of himself this weekend, Suzuki are perhaps the least likely with regards to claiming a top five resu👍lt 

Rins will start in eighth which is the same position that Mir was able to achieve during qualifying for the Qatar MotoGP. However, Rins 🦄will need to sort out his late race pace if he’s to con✃test for a podium finish. 

Aprilia

While Suzuki might find it hard to challenge for a top five or better, the same goes for Aprilia who looked to be on course for a top four i🐟n qualifying. 

Fourth after the initial r๊uns, Aleix Espa🥂rgaro then crashed at turn ten which brought his session to a disappointing end. 

In regards to his team-mat𒐪e, it’s been another quiet and somewhat subdued weekend for Maverick Vi😼nales. 

Although there’s visibly huge potential for Vinales with the 22 RS-GP, the former Yamaha rider is struggling to extract the maximum performance, whether that be q𝕴ualifying or race trim during practice. Vinales has yet to finish inside of the top ten in a session so far this weekend. 

Ducati

Las🐠t but certainly not least is Du🐟cati who arguably pose the biggest threat to Quartararo or any other rider aiming for victory. 

A trend over the last season, Du♈cati will have four bikes inside the top six positions for the start of tomorrow’s Grand Prix as M👍artin leads the way.

Even though it’s proving difficult to unleash the full potential of the D🐽esmosedici GP22 engine, the raw pace from the likes of Martin, Johann Zarco and Francesco Bagnaia has been very evident so far this weekend. 

With condi♐tions potentially being wet for the race, that’s another obstacle facing Quartararo that is likely to favour the Ducati riders - we’re thinking Bagnaia and in particular Jack Miller are ones to watc🌊h should it rain. 

Championship leader Enea Bastianini also can’t be ru♈led out whether it’s dry or wet as the Gresini man will start from fifth.

wuqian0821.com’s Prediction

When choosing who we belie꧒ve will take the win tomorrow, several key factors need to be considered. 

It goes without saying that those on the first💖 two rows will have a great chance, not only because of their race pace, but because of the level of competitiveness and how difficult it typically is to challenge from further down. 

However, the first-ever Mandalika MotoGP will most likely be a race where overtaking is even more difficult than normal du♛e to the ideal racing line being very 🦂thin. 

Another key factor could be th꧒e weather… Shouಞld it rain then pole sitter Quartararo is likely to struggle somewhat, even though improvements have been made in this area compared to two seasons ago.

While Quartararo has been without questio🗹n the top dog over one lap. We at wuqian0821.com are picking Brad Binder for victory. 

Con൩sistency with regards to race pace, momentum being on his side following a podium in Qatar, a KTM RC16 that looks as good as it has during ꩵthe Austrian manufacturer’s time in MotoGP and mixed conditions almost a certainty, we can think of no one better than Binder to pick as the favourite. 

Our podium prediction goes as followed: 

Third: Francesco Bagnaia

Second: Fabio Quartararo

Winner: Brad Binder

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