Ben Watson took his best ever GP moto finish with second place in the second moto in the Indonesian GP. The Brit was one fo the fastest men all weekend but his first moto saw him crash twice. He came back from last to sixth place, which meant he missed the podium by just one point. And in the second moto he fought past riders like world champ Pauls Jonass, Jorge Prado and Thomas Kjer Olsen to take a strong second place in the sticky conditions on a track that was sticky after overnight rain.

But at the front of the field an emotional Calvin Vlaanderen took his first ever holeshot, first moto win and first overall on the HRC Honda – the team’s first GP win since TIm Gajser in 2015. Vlaanderen became the first South African to win a GP since Grant Langston more than a decade ago.

“I’ve been working towards this since I was a kid. It’s an emotional day,” said Vlaanderen who broke down in tears after crossing the line and again at the podium.

Second overall was Thomas Covington who won the opening moto after Vlaanderen faded. The American had a mediocre start in moto two and came back through to fourth.

And third was Jorge Prado, who pulled just two points closer to the lead of the world championship. Prado took fourth in the opener then third in moto two, not looking his usual confident self in the sticky conditions.

Also out of sorts was Jonass, despite taking second in the opening moto. In race two he dropped from second place to an eventual seventh. He was fifth overall, and saw his series lead over Prado cut to just seven points.

Adam Sterry hit the gate in the opener and came through to ninth, while he took 11th in moto two for 11th overall.