Thailand GP Sprint Race reports/results/points + Moto2/3 Qualifying

MotoGP 2023

Round 17 – Thailand Grand Prix

The pressure is well and truly back on for reigning Champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) as key title rival Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) bounced back from Australian GP disappointment to take a statement Tissot Sprint victory at the OR Thailand Grand Prix. His clear victory brings the gap down from 27 to just 18 points, with Bagnaia only carding a seventh place finish on Saturday.

Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) duelled with Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) and was then able to close the gap the winner to less than a second. Headlines were made just behind that battle too as Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) made a stunning final corner dive on Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) for fourth.

MotoGP Sprint Race Report

Jorge Martin and Luca Marini both charged towards turn one off the line but it was Spaniard that nosed ahead and from there he dropped the hammer.   Marini settling into second ahead of Aleix Espargaro and Binder, who had moved up into fourth.

The bigger drama was for Bagnaia as he dropped down to ninth, and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) also had a tougher start as he was pushed wide and lost out too. The big winner? Marc Marquez as he moved up into fifth.

The first big moves saw Aleix Espargaro attack Marini but the Aprilia man found the door shut, a problem not encountered by Binder soon after as the KTM shot past the Aprilia, up into third. Those two, Marini and Binder, would go on to duel behind Martin.

Meanwhile, Marc Marquez was on the move. A brilliant dive up the inside of Aleix Espargaro saw Marquez take over in fourth, and the pair then traded places a couple of times.

Up at the front, Martin was starting to build his own clear air, edging away tenth by tenth.  Marini was still holding out Binder and fending off the thrusts and parries from the KTM man.

After Martin went on to steadily pull away, Marini and Binder were left to battle it out as the laps ticked away. Binder was all over the back of the VR46 machine but couldn’t find a way through until eight laps to go. The South African made a first move but headed wide, with Marini slicing straight back through. Next lap around though, it was time for take two. The KTM shot through at the final corner and the two headed side-by-side down the straight, mission accomplished and a new one unlocked: hold Marini off.

The Italian latched himself onto the back of the KTM ahead as Aleix Espargaro also joined the party, shadowing Marini’s every move, and the same was true of Marc Marquez with a harrying Bezzecchi just behind.

Bagnaia, down in P7, was the rider on the move in terms of pace though, homing in on the VR46-MM93 duel. Before he arrived, Marc Marquez was able to make a move stick on Bezzecchi though, and from there the Repsol Honda headed off on the chase behind Aleix Espargaro. The Aprilia man made a mistake which allowed Marc Marquez to close back in and the Repsol Honda man needed no further invitation, side by side with the Aprilia but denied, leaving it all going down to the final corner.

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As Martin crossed the line just under a second clear of Binder and Marini secured third, the focus shifted to the final apex. Marc Marquez was right on Aleix Espargaro and Bagnaia was right on Bezzecchi, and it looked like it could be two parallel lunges as the four riders all dropped anchor. However, it was only the Repsol Honda who decided to go for it and he made it stick, nabbing fourth from Aleix Espargaro and holding it to the line as Bezzecchi held off Bagnaia in the fight for sixth.

Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) came home eighth after getting his own elbows out both in the group and against Phillip Island winner Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing), with the Frenchman forced to settle for ninth. Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) just missed out on a point in P10.

MotoGP Sprint Race Results

MotoGP Rider Quotes

Jorge Martin – P1

“When I saw that Binder had overtaken Marini I pushed a little harder. I struggled a bit in the middle of the race with tire wear, in the end I was at the limit, but I’m very happy, it was needed.”

Brad Binder – P2

“The plan was not to come 2nd but to win today but we’ll take it. In the beginning I really struggled to get past Luca and once I’d made it I’d already used the best of my tires. It was a tricky one but my team did a fantastic job and made a good step for me this weekend; we just need that last little bit and we can do something better.”

Luca Marini – P3

“Today practically everything went right: I started very well, I held the second position. I knew that with Brad (Binder) behind me I wouldn’t have an easy life. I hoped he would suffer more from the slipstream on the front tire, but instead he always braked very, very hard. I’m happy, it’s the second podium in the Sprint in three consecutive races, it means we’re working well. Tomorrow will be a different story, with the hard at the rear, the management will be different. It won’t be easy, but we’ll try.”

Marc Marquez – P4

“It was a really busy day today, it’s always like that when you go through Q1. The team did a really good job and we were able to improve, I could ride in a better way and made it to Q2. From starting on the third row we were able to stay in contact with the front group and we were able to put on a good show and have a fun race. The Sprint overall was much better than I expected, we made a good start and battled until the end. The last corner was the opposite of 2019, I attacked and made it stick instead of defending from someone else’s attack. It looks like I have the correct braking point at that corner!”

Marco Bezzecchi – P6

“Not an easy day today, I suffered more than expected physically. I struggled a lot, even at the start where I lost a lot of ground. Then in such a fast race it’s complicated to move up the rankings and at the moment at the start I can’t do more. Almost immediately I had the front tire overheating, I had to manage myself so as not to make too many mistakes. Tomorrow will be a different story: on the long run, considering the pace, I’m proportionately less worried about the pain.”

Francesco Bagnaia – P7

“My start went OK, but there was something strange when I released the clutch. After that, I also lost a lot of time with Zarco in turn 8 and the battle between him and Alex Marquez put us 1.6 seconds behind the second group. It’s a shame because my feeling was perfect like all the weekend. In terms of pace, I was one of the strongest and the rear tyre as well was in good shape, but it was too late. For sure, a better start tomorrow would be good!”

Alex Marquez – P8

“It was quite a positive Sunday. I was expecting maybe a bit more from this sprint race, but the start and the opening lap have a huge impact here. With this heat, once the group is formed it’s hard to overtake. I lost plenty of time in some battles, otherwise I could have aimed at fourth place. The made another step forward fitness-wise: now we’ll analyse what we’ve been missing, but surely we have to improve something with the front-end.”

Johann Zarco – P9

“I gained two positions, I started very strong but fighting with Alex I wore out the tyres too much and after that everything was too complicated. Hopefully we can do better tomorrow.”

Jack Miller – P10

“Not bad, not great. We tried our maximum but where we were starting from made things a bit complicated. We were able to fight back through. 10th is not what we want but I feel that our pace is not that bad for tomorrow. We were the only ones on the hard tire so that might benefit us. We have some good data now and that will help for tomorrow.”

Fabio Quartararo – P11

“I did a great lap time this morning, a 1’29.7s. That‘s the lap time I expected to do, but I qualified in P10, really far back on the grid. This morning, when riding alone, I was able to make a really fast pace, but when we‘re racing in a group, I‘m slower and can‘t overtake. We have to see what happens tomorrow in the Race. Of course, I will push to the maximum, like I did today. Today, I made two or three mistakes that cost me a few seconds because I was pushing to really find the limit. That‘s what we needed to do today to prepare for tomorrow.”

Joan Mir – P12

“It was a harder day than I was expecting. Starting from 19th you have a lot to deal with and even when you have the speed like we had today, there’s still a lot of work to do. Finishing 12th is not bad, it was quite a real position and I think we need to be content with what’s been achieved today. My pace wasn’t for the top five, but certainly if we started ahead we could have been there in the points. Anyway, we learned some more about the bike and we will use this knowledge tomorrow.”

Enea Bastianini – P13

“This morning in FP2 we had some issues, and I lost lots of time.  When I went into qualifying, I was a bit nervous and made some mistakes. I don’t have much confidence in the bike yet, so I’m focusing everything on remaining consistent in the race. The problem is that I can’t take advantage of the new tyre like the others. Tomorrow, we will definitely try something that will allow us to do a good race.”

Raul Fernandez – P14

“I felt good today. I think the Raul that was in Moto2 and Moto3 is more or less here finally. I saw that I can ride like how I want and I enjoy riding the bike. We just always run into the same issues, we couldn’t find any solution for the clutch at the start yet. Our pace was much better than the final result, but with the hot temperatures you can’t overtake as it’s difficult to manage the front. We are in quite a good place on the grid, but now the level of MotoGP is just amazing and when you don’t have a good start, you lose position and it’s really hard to fight back.”

Franco Morbidelli – P15

“I was expecting better. I was confident coming into this weekend, but unfortunately we were not able to get through to Q2, and starting from 18th is a big problem. To recover positions, I tried to overtake Miguel, then we touched. I lost a lot of time because of that, but I‘m encouraged by the speed that I have – not by the results so far this weekend – but the speed is good.”

Pol Espargaro – P16

“A hard race today. Maybe we were expecting a little bit more but we didn’t feel good with the rear grip, especially after 7-8 laps I felt a big drop and struggled to stop the bike. Everything became a bit harder. Anyway let’s see if we can learn from this and improve the feeling for tomorrow and be in a better position.”

Miguel Oliveira – P17

“It was not a bad start, I made a great step forward today in FP2, the pace was quite okay but I just couldn’t make a good time attack in Qualifying. In the Sprint race, I recovered a couple of positions in the first two laps but then had an incident with Franky (Morbidelli) and Maverick (Viñales), which made me lose a lot of time. I broke a wing on the left side and the airbag blew up, so it was not ideal to ride for half a lap. Now, I’m just trying to get my pace in the race and get things ready for tomorrow. I’m optimistic, I think the long race will be good for me to try and get into the points.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P19

“I’m disappointed because we had a good pace, and I felt good on the bike; unfortunately, when trying to recover positions, I made a mistake, and I crashed. In any case, as the bike wasn’t damaged, I managed to finish the Sprint to understand the conditions and try to do better tomorrow. I’m sorry for the team, and I thank them for the solid improvements we are doing this weekend”.

Fabio Di Giannantonio – DNF

“I’m a bit disappointed because the potential for the race was really high. Unfortunately from the second lap onwards I started experiencing a technical problem, so I tried to make up some places for a while, but the bike did not back me up. The most important race is tomorrow so we’ll keep working, sort everything round and then we’ll be ready.”

Augusto Fernandez – DNF

“I’m disappointed for the crash because the weekend was going good but I was struggling a bit with the pace yesterday and when the tires dropped I don’t ride comfortable. Maybe the conditions and riding with the group and the high temperatures are not helping but I’m a bit on the limit. I need to work a bit on this pace for tomorrow and let’s see.”

Team Managers

Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager

“Another good weekend so far. Brad went to Q2 directly yesterday and this is becoming the norm now, which is positive. Jack went into Q1 and it is always a bit tricky. He didn’t get the right moment or the right lap. The Sprint was fantastic for Brad and he deserved another podium after a long fight. Another medal and good preparation for tomorrow’s race. Jack struggled a bit on the first lap and was a few seconds behind the leaders. He had good pace compared to what he had in practice so that was another step. We’re looking forward to tomorrow’s race.”

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director

“We had expected more from today. Fabio and Franky both have good speed and pace, but the times are so close here this weekend that we are further down the grid than we would have liked. We know that overtaking gets tough for us in large rider groups, so this Sprint was difficult. Concerning the tyres, it will be very challenging to manage the full race distance tomorrow, so that could play a key role.”

Nicolas Goyon – GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 Team Manager

“A tricky day here in Thailand. Pol couldn’t make Q2 this morning after going slightly wide in the last corner of his flying lap. His situation was a bit more complicated for the Sprint but he made a good start and good rhythm until the initial grip of the tire dropped and he started to feel uncomfortable. It will be important to understand what happened and to try and improve the situation for tomorrow. Augusto knew that qualifying in Q2 directly would make things easier but it was not a perfect session for him. He lost the front during the Sprint while he was trying to find his pace. There is a lot to learn from today. As a rookie Augusto needs to stay steady and we also need to look at the others to analyze and find some solutions for Sunday.”

MotoGP Championship Points

MotoGP Qualifying

Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) won the opening battle of the Thailand Grand Prix as his 1:29.287 proved not only good enough for pole position but also a new all-time lap record.

Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) lines up alongside Martin in the middle of the front row after a late attack for glory, with Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) snatching the final front row spot.

Luca Marini – P2

“I’m really happy with this front row, especially in a classification with minimal gaps. I was good at putting everything together and set a great lap today. The start will be crucial for the race, including the first lap. It will be very important to stay in the top three positions because, even more so in this heat, when you’re in the slipstream of someone it’s really complicated to manage the front tire. As for the final choice on the rear I still have some doubts, we’ll see before the race.”

MotoGP Qualifying Results

Moto2 Qualifying

It’s back-to-back pole positions for Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools SpeedUp) after his 1:35.371 saw him top the timesheets in Moto2 qualifying at the OR Thailand Grand Prix, denying title protagonist Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) as the number 37 is forced to settle for second on the grid ahead of his first match point. Albert Arenas (Red Bull KTM Ajo) nabbed the final spot on the front row, denying Aron Canet (Pons Wegow Los40) by 0.020s.

Home hero Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) rounds out the top five as he guns for glory, with Marcos Ramirez (OnlyFans American Racing) on row two after more impressive pace. The third row of the grid went to Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools SpeedUp), Tony Arbolino (Elf MarcVDS Racing Team), and Jake Dixon (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team), with Arbolino in the spotlight as he needs to finish better than tenth if Acosta wins. Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) rounds out the top ten on the grid.

Moto2 Qualifying Results

Moto3 Qualifying

Pole position at the OR Thailand Grand Prix went the way of Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) after the Turkish rider put down an impressive 1:42.061. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider already took the all-time lap record in Practice and was just a tenth shy of it in Q2 which was just enough to clinch pole. Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) will line up alongside the Turk as the young Brazilian missed out pole by just 0.057s to finish in P2, and rounding out the front row will be second in the Championship Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP), whose lap time was just 0.001s shy of Moreira.

Championship leader Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing), meanwhile, is down in P7.

Ryusei Yamanaka (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) took 4th place after missing out on the front row by just 0.093s. The Japanese rider crashed late in the session, but was declared fit after a check up. He is set to head row two ahead of Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) and Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia), the latter another faller in Q2 and from a hot lap. Rider ok.

Masia is next up in seventh, and the Championship leader also came across Yellow Flags late on. Joining the Spaniard on row three will be his teammate Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) and Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo), with David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports)) rounding out the top 10 and title challenger Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Ajo) down in P11.

Joel Kelso will start from 14th place on the grid.

Moto3 Qualifying Results