Bagnaia’s Thailand MotoGP sprint compromised by “useless” Zarco/Marquez battle
The championship leader’s points lead has been cut from 27 to 18 by Pramac’s Jorge Martin, after the Spaniard romped to his seventh sprint win of the year as Bagnaia was 4.1 seconds adrift in seventh. Bagnaia qualified sixth and says he “missed the start”, which dropped him to ninth on the opening lap before […]
Martin dominates sprint to cut Bagnaia’s championship lead
Martin converted pole to a fifth consecutive sprint victory in 2023 to bring his tally for the season up to seven, the Pramac Ducati rider 0.933 seconds clear of KTM’s Brad Binder at the chequered flag. Leading every lap, Martin came under no challenge as he romped away from the field, while Bagnaia struggled to […]
Martin smashes lap record, beats Marini to pole
Having been fastest at the track all through Friday, the championship contender carried that form into qualifying as he beat VR46 rival Luca Marini to the top spot by 0.138s. Martin was quick off the blocks in Q2, setting a rapid time of 1m29.491s just five minutes into the session, which was already enough to […]
Quartararo “can enjoy” riding again with alternate Thailand MotoGP tyre
To cope with the heat demands of the Buriram track, Michelin’s rear tyres feature a carcass that is slightly harder than normal. A similar tyre is always brought to Thailand and Austria, but was also used in India and Indonesia – where Quartararo was competitive and finished third in both grands prix. Quartararo secured direct […]
“Not easy” for Martin to see Thailand MotoGP tyre wear after Australia loss
The Pramac Ducati rider was on course to convert pole to victory in last Saturday’s grand prix at Phillip Island, but plummeted to fifth on the final lap as his soft tyre gamble backfired. It dropped him 27 points behind title rival Francesco Bagnaia coming to Thailand, with Martin fastest on Friday despite a crash […]
Honda MotoGP atmosphere hasn’t changed since departure announcement
The eight-time world champion has been with Honda for his entire MotoGP career, but has elected to quit with a year left on his current contract to join Gresini Ducati in 2024. Marquez won’t be able to bring any of his crew with him to Gresini aside from tyre technician Javi Ortiz, but says nothing […]
Martin tops tight second practice despite crash
The Pramac Ducati rider comes into the Buriram event 27 points adrift of factory Ducati counterpart Francesco Bagnaia after losing the victory in Australia last week on the final lap. With under half a second covering the top 18, Martin emerged as fastest of all with a final flying effort of 1m29.826s. However, he did […]
Michael Ruben Rinaldi set for Motocorsa World Superbike seat
Rinaldi had been left searching for alternative employment when Ducati made the decision to promote Nicolo Bulega directly from World Supersport to its works WSBK team, where he will join Alvaro Bautista. It had been thought that Rinaldi was holding out to see whether a space would open up at Honda amid the uncertainty regarding […]
Martin leads Vinales in FP1, Bagnaia only 10th
Maverick Vinales and Alex Marquez traded the fastest time in the opening quarter of the session, the Gresini rider setting the early pace on a 1m32.030s before Vinales moved the goalposts with a time of 1m31.657s. Marquez struck back with a 1m31.486s just after the 15 minute mark, before Vinales went 0.002s quicker to snatch […]