Bastianini dominates Thai GP Sprint, Martin beats Bagnaia to extend championship lead

Enea Bastianini took a dominant victory at the Chang International Circuit in Thailand, leading every single lap until the chequered flag. Meanwhile, Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia battled over second place, with Martin coming out on top, extending his championship lead by another couple of points.

Jorge Martin would dive up the inside of Francesco Bagnaia into the first corner at the start of the race, immediately running off the circuit, as Bagnaia was also forced to run slightly wide. Enea Bastianini would subsequently allow them to run wide, snatching the lead of the race coming out of the first corner.

Upon rejoining the circuit, Martin would be caught out by Marc Marquez suddenly arriving in front of Martin, the Spaniard dabbing on the brakes to avoid a potential crash. Marquez would therefore also benefit in the same manner as Bastianini, taking second place on the run into Turn 2, with Pedro Acosta in third, just behind.

Bagnaia would quickly dispatch of the riders ahead, except teammate Bastianini who had checked out at the front of the race and built a steady and healthy lead, over one second ahead of everyone else.

Jorge Martin would battle with Pedro Acosta for a couple of laps, the Ducati’s mainly firing out of corners better than the KTM of Acosta. Eventually, after Martin made it through on his fellow compatriot, Acosta would crash at Turn 2, losing the front after running slightly deep, in the same way that we have seen Bastianini crash at Turn 2 in Practice, with little grip on the very outside.

Acosta would quickly rejoin the race, but would come into the pits with three laps remaining to retire from the Sprint Race.

Meanwhile at the front, Martin had then found a way past Marc Marquez, the championship leader then setting his sights on Bagnaia, who was only half a second ahead, seemingly struggling more for tyre grip.

The Ducati Desmosedici GP24, in a direct comparison with the GP23, was far better at driving out of a corner onto a straight, frequently getting better exits out of the corner, with Bagnaia therefore able to pull out a small gap to Martin by the time they reached a corner like Turn 2, which usually is an overtaking opportunity. However, with the extra bike lengths that Bagnaia’s Ducati was able to pull out, Martin would have to overtake his championship rival at a proper fast flowing corner.

Martin would dive up the inside of Bagnaia at Turn 6, getting a phenomenal run on the Italian through Turn 5, managing to then slip up the inside of Bagnaia. Martin would run slightly wide on the exit, picking up a track limits warning. Meanwhile, whilst these battles had raged on, Bastianini had managed to extend his lead to nearly two seconds, managing the tyres and pace to a comfortable lead.

Martin would run deep at Turn 1 again, subsequently losing absolutely nothing to the Desmosedici GP24 on the run into Turn 2. Martin would get away with this, as the stewards revealed that they would be more lenient on first corner track limits, as long as the riders made an effort to get back on the circuit.

Enea Bastianini would round the final corner to take a dominant victory ahead of his championship rivals, with Jorge Martin leading Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez across the line, Martin extending his lead over the championship, now leading Bagnaia by 22 points going into the Thai Grand Prix on Sunday.

The Ducati’s would all finish in the leading eight places, a dominant display from the Italian manufacturer, who practically locks out the points available in this Sprint Race.

MotoGP Thai Sprint Race Results

1st Enea Bastianini, Ducati
2nd Jorge Martin, Prima Pramac
3rd Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati
4th Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing
5th Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
6th Franco Morbidelli, Prima Pramac
7th Marco Bezzecchi, VR46 Racing
8th Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing
9th Brad Binder, Red Bull Factory KTM
10th Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha
11th Jack Miller, Red Bull Factory KTM
12th Johann Zarco, LCR Honda
13th Joan Mir, Repsol Honda
14th Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Racing
15th Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia
16th Augusto Fernandez, Red Bull GasGas KTM
17th Alex Rins, Yamaha
18th Takaaki Nakagami, LCR Honda
19th Luca Marini, Repsol Honda
20th Maverick Vinales, Aprilia
21st Lorenzo Savadori, Trackhouse Racing
DNF Pedro Acosta, Red Bull GasGas KTM

Featured Image: Ducati Corse Media