Somkiat Chantra, the first Thai driver to race full-time in MotoGP, this year within the LCR Honda team (with the support of Idemitsu) reached a symbolic milestone in his career by scoring his best result in Indonesia.
By finishing 13th in the Grand Prix at Mandalika, the number 35 scored 3 points, three times more than he had scored so far at Assen, Misano and Motegi.
Is this a great performance? Not really, since the Thai only preceded Jack Miller, who fell in the race before restarting, and finished almost 20 seconds behind his teammate Johann zarco himself in difficulty.
Crossing the finish line 48 seconds after the winner, Somkiat Chantra doesn't really impress, like his last season in Moto2, his best result in the intermediate category having been a fourth place obtained at home in Thailand.
Despite only two Moto2 victories and a modest 12th place in the 2024 championship, the soon-to-be 27-year-old rider had secured a historic promotion to the premier class, but a promotion by default, the world champion Ai Ogura having succumbed to the sirens of the Trackhouse team, while the main sponsor of the LCR Honda team had to have an Asian rider race.
Injured a knee in training in July, without solid results, the mayonnaise did not take and Somkiat Chantra was quickly oriented to Superbike for the 2026 season, riding the official Honda with Jake Dixon as his future teammate. Honda is always loyal to its riders and the LCR rider can be pleased about that, the position offered being more than in line with his results.
His replacement in MotoGP has not yet been announced, but the surname of Diogo Moreira circulates on all the mouths of the paddock.
Does this mean that Idemitsu is reconsidering its policy, or even its commitment?
When Somkiat Chantra signs his best result in MotoGP, ironically, his fate is already sealed elsewhere.
But in the end, wasn't it written in advance?
Somkiat Chantra (13th): “I'm happy because we scored points, and that's always positive. The race was difficult for me because I didn't have a good feeling on the bike. I wanted to stay with the group, but it was very complicated, so I focused on avoiding mistakes, scoring points and finishing the race to collect important data for Australia.”
2025 Indonesian Grand Prix Results :
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
MotoGP Indonesia Somkiat Chantra
