Marquez dominates Thai GP Sprint race as Ducati wash-out the podium
Marc Marquez dominated the Thai GP Sprint race on Saturday after taking pole position in Qualifying shortly beforehand. Teammate Francesco Bagnaia would put his Ducati in third place, as Alex Marquez aboard the Gresini Ducati managed to split the pair of them with a second place finish.
As the green flag dropped, Marc Marquez got away strongly, as most of the field got away cleanly without any incidents. Marco Bezzecchi aboard the Factory Aprilia, would experience some major issues at the start of the race, the bike evidently having a lot of wheelspin and affecting the Italian’s run down into Turn 1, as Bezzecchi went from 9th to 18th place.
Marc Marquez would then go on to dominate and control the race, staying roughly one second ahead of his brother, Alex Marquez – who also had another second over Bagnaia behind.
The real stand-out star of the race would be Ai Ogura on the Trackhouse Aprilia. The Japanese rider closed down on Bagnaia and attempted to throw some different shapes and run different racing lines, unable to quite pass the two-time world champion. Considering the dominance displayed by teammate Marquez, for Bagnaia to have finished behind one of the satelite teams is a somewhat strange sight to see, however it should be noted that even the Factory Ducati squad are currently using the 2024 version of the Ducati, as their new 2025 edition allegedly did not add much pace.
Jack Miller, in fresh colours for the 2025 season after leaving Red Bull KTM and joining Pramac Yamaha, would crash out of the race at Turn 8’s tough right-hander, the same place where Marc Marquez himself crashed in the 2024 Thai GP. A familiar but disappointing start for Miller, who had qualified in fourth place and was looking to be one of the stronger riders not on a Ducati.
Franco Morbidelli would end up finishing in fifth place after riding a solid race, the Italian also in fresh colours after joining the VR46 Ducati team for this season. Despite running off the circuit early on into the race, Morbidelli maintained strong pace, the question will be however, can he keep this up for Sunday’s Grand Prix?
Pedro Acosta claimed sixth place aboard the Factory Red Bull KTM after scrapping with teammate Brad Binder throughout the race, with Fabio Quartararo breathing down their necks and looking for a way through as well during the race. Quartararo would finish in seventh, eventually managing to take a position and subsequently a championship point from Binder, who finished in eighth.
The last points-paying position would go to Joan Mir on the Factory Honda machine, somewhat of a surprise given the tough couple of seasons the 2020 MotoGP champion has had. Honda have been making an increased effort to get back towards the front of the field after the departure of Marc Marquez last year, and this result from Mir does bode well for the Japanese Manufacturer going into the Grand Prix, where the Top 15 will score points.
MotoGP Thai GP – Sprint Race Results
1st Marc Marquez, Ducati
2nd Alex Marquez, Gresini Ducati
3rd Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati
4th Ai Ogura, Trackhouse Aprilia
5th Franco Morbidelli, VR46 Ducati
6th Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM
7th Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha
8th Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM
9th Joan Mir, Honda
10th Johann Zarco, LCR Honda
11th Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Aprilia
12th Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia
13th Fermin Aldeguer, Gresini Ducati
14th Maverick Vinales, Tech3 Red Bull KTM
15th Luca Marini, Honda
16th Miguel Oliveira, Pramac Yamaha
17th Alex Rins, Yamaha
18th Enea Bastianini, Tech3 Red Bull KTM
19th Somkiat Chantra, LCR Honda
20th Lorenzo Savadori, Aprilia
DNF Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Ducati
DNF Jack Miller, Pramac Yamaha
MotoGP’s season opener in Thailand begins on Sunday at 08:00am UK time
Featured Image: Ducati Corse Media
