Bagnaia Wins in Rain-Soaked MotoGP Thai GP as Marquez and others crash

Francesco Bagnaia would come through to claim a crucial victory at the Chang International Circuit, the Italian winning a rain affected Thai Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Marc Marquez and many other riders would crash, particularly at Turn 8.

Jorge Martin would take the lead of the race at the start, getting an impressive launch from his grid slot on the dirty side of the grid, with more standing water actually enabling those offline, to get a better start than those on the racing line.

Fabio Quartararo would also come straight through on the inside at Turn 1, initially taking second place coming out of the corner, before the Ducati’s of Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez would come back through, the pair of them chasing Jorge Martin.

Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo would come to blows early on, with Morbidelli attempting a move up the inside of Quartararo at Turn 8, from a long way back, Quartararo hitting the left rear side of Morbidelli’s Prima Pramac Ducati, as the Frenchman would go down. Morbidelli would run wide at Turn 8, unable to actually make the corner himself. For this incident, the Italian would receive a long lap penalty.

Martin would make a crucial mistake at Turn 3, running incredibly deep and allowing for Bagnaia and Marquez to come straight through and overtake the Spaniard. Martin would settle into the race, albeit a comfortable couple of seconds ahead of the riders behind, and a couple of seconds behind the riders in front.

Morbidelli would crash just after setting the fastest lap of the race at that point, and just after taking the long lap penalty. The Italian would crash at Turn 8, somewhat of a hotspot for the struggling riders – with Enea Bastianini also going down a short while later at the same corner.

Jack Miller, Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta would all duel for fourth place at the time, the KTM riders finding pace in the wet weather to even start closing to the Ducati’s in front, albeit only marginally.

Marc Marquez would close right onto the back of Bagnaia, the eight-time world champion attempting to come through on Bagnaia, also experimenting with different racing lines, trying to find traction and grip at Turn 3, and at other corners as well. However, with Bagnaia on the Ducati Desmosedici GP24, and Marquez on the Desmosedici GP23, it soon became relatively clear that the current model, the GP24, was able to brake and exit just a fraction quicker and more effectively than Marquez’s GP23.

Marquez would eventually crash at Turn 8 after losing the front of his Ducati, almost able to save the bike before the outside kerb dealt the final blow, dropping Marquez to the ground and also stalling his bike, making it more difficult to get started again. Marquez would rejoin the race, but would have to fight at the back of the field in a bid to just score points.

Jorge Martin would also lose the front at Turn 8, almost copying Marquez who would slide off the circuit in front of Martin. With Marquez at the very back of the field, and conditions beginning to get a bit more difficult with a drying and therefore changing circuit, Martin would settle into second place and maintain the gaps around him, able to take a second place without any major change in the championship.

This would promote the KTM fight into a battle for the final spot on the podium, with Jack Miller and Pedro Acosta going side-by-side for around half a lap, the pair of them battling intensely before Acosta would complete the move at the tight Turn 5 left-hander. Miller would sink further through the field after Fabio Di Giannantonio would also make it through on the Australian on the final lap.

Marc Marquez would manage to battle back through the field, but would make contact with former teammate Joan Mir at Turn 3, being told to drop one position just one lap later, the Spaniard not following this command from race control, instead riding further ahead and finishing in 12th place.

Johann Zarco would have a strong race as the leading rider for Honda, ending up finishing in eighth place in tricky conditions, obviously benefitting from the riders ahead crashing, but being strong enough not to crash himself. Luca Marini would also score a few points with an impressive 11th place finish for Repsol Honda, the Factory team.

Bagnaia would come around the final corner to take an impressive and well-earned victory ahead of Jorge Martin and the KTM riders, a tricky race for many riders, the championship now raging on to Sepang in Malaysia for the penultimate round in the championship.

Francesco Bagnaia now gets ever closer to Jorge Martin in the World Championship as MotoGP goes into the final two rounds in the championship, just 17 points separating the pair of them with a maximum of 74 points on offer if one rider wins the remaining Grands Prix and Sprint races.

MotoGP Thailand – Race Results

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

Featured Image: Ducati Corse Media