2024 MotoGP World Championship
Round 18 – Chang International Circuit
PT Grand Prix of Thailand
Saturday
Enea Bastianini – P1
“It was a great race. I took advantage of (Jorge) Martin’s mistake at turn one as I saw he had hit the brakes very late, and I knew he couldn’t make the turn stick. I then tried to pull away a little in the first two-three laps and managed to do so, and from then on things were a lot easier – even though the others were never too far behind for the whole race. In the end we managed to take the win in a much more comfortable way than we expected, even though it’s never easy.”
Jorge Martin – P2
“It was a difficult race. I started really good, but not as good as I expected. I think starting from the right side, I wasn’t so confident, so I took a bit of margin in the start. Then I tried to really take Enea, but he released the brake, so then I was going to hit Pecco, and I said, okay, either you release the brake and you lose some positions or you hit Pecco, so then I said, okay, let’s go out. I lost six positions, so it wasn’t good. Then I was a bit nervous, but after two three laps, I started to see that even with the heat of the front and the bikes, I was able to be competitive, so I was catching the guys in front and overtaking one by one. Finally, Pecco was difficult to overtake, but yeah, I am happy. I did a good job. Tomorrow will be a really challenging race. I feel Pecco will be super strong or some other. I think tomorrow will be stronger than today, and Enea, it seems like he makes a big step, so focus on myself and trying to do my best.”
Francesco Bagnaia – P3
“The early part of the race was good, but then I lost one position and in the end we missed something to try and take a shot at Jorge. We’ll have to analyse the data as I didn’t feel comfortable with the front-end tyre; I was struggling under braking and, generally speaking, to make the best use of it – I had a hard time especially in sector three. The pace, however, was more or less equal to the other frontrunners. In any case we managed to finish third, although we lost two points, and we need to stay focused ahead of tomorrow’s race.”
Marc Marquez – P4
“Before the sprint race began, I was confident in my chances to battle for the podium, but I hadn’t taken Enea into consideration. I managed to achieve the target of a second-row qualifying result and I also started well because I was second at turn three, but today we didn’t have the pace to stay with the frontrunners. Tomorrow’s realistic goal is to finish as high as today.”
Alex Marquez – P5
“It was a good Saturday and let’s say so far a good weekend, too. Without slipstream it wasn’t an easy job to carry out in today’s race, but it went well and I’m happy. Tomorrow’s race is going to be a long one and we’ll need to manage the tyre wear as soon as we can for the end of the race – and there are valuable points up for grabs.”
Marco Bezzecchi – P7
“A difficult race, especially the first laps. I made a couple of mistakes, I went wide twice at turn 3 and that complicated everything. I stayed in the slipstream for many laps, the temperature rose a lot on the soft in front. It wasn’t easy, recovering in these conditions is almost impossible, but it was my only choice. With the hard in front the bike doesn’t turn, we need a step. In any case, qualifying went well and so we’re trying to make the most of the second row for tomorrow.”
Fabio Di Giannantonio – P8
“I have to say that if I think about where we were yesterday and where we are today, this can be considered the best weekend of the year. We made some changes, we managed to move up the standings and get back to being fast. In the Sprint I kept a good pace, I have struggled a bit with the brakes, I went wide a couple of times, but overall I’m happy. I want to have a good weekend and finish on a high with the Team before the end of the Championship.”
Brad Binder – P9
“I tried really hard at the beginning to go with the guys. After the first five laps and the rear tire drop I was spinning a lot and just could not hold the pace. It’s difficult because I feel I can give it a good go. We made some steady progress in other ways but we just need a bit more speed without trying to overdo things and keep working to sort things out. I want to do something to touch our problems for the race tomorrow and hopefully that will lead to a better result.”
Fabio Quartararo – P10
“Today was quite good, apart from lap 1 with Brad Binder, who overtook us a bit too aggressively. I lost a lot of positions. Q1 was nice, Q2 was good, and the pace in the Sprint race was also nice. It’s just a shame that I went wide, like I said, and lost five or more positions. But we can be happy with the pace we had today. I think we were a bit faster than the other guys I overtook, and I enjoyed it.”
Jack Miller – P11
“Nice to be back in Thailand and it’s been a good weekend so far, even if the result was not quite what we wanted in the Sprint. We are continuing to work on the set-up and my riding because I felt good in the morning and the pace was good but that wasn’t the case in the afternoon. A lack of grip in the rear on the change of directions. I fought back in the Sprint and hung around in that top ten a bit but it’s strange we didn’t have a grip issue during the weekend up until the race. We’ll have to use the harder rear tire option tomorrow and maybe that will help a little bit.”
Johann Zarco – P12
“Today, I did a good start, but I was unlucky, as the rider I had in front of me had some problems, and I could not recover positions. It’s been a tough Sprint as we suffered due to a lack of grip, the conditions of the track were different. Despite these challenges, I’m staying positive. We’ve been close in terms of lap times, and I’m confident we can find a solution for Sunday’s race.”
Joan Mir – P13
“I really enjoyed the Sprint today, I was able to recover a lot on the brakes and had a lot of really good battles with riders like Quartararo, Miller and Aleix. The first laps especially were really good and I felt really strong. Of course, everything was complicated by Qualifying, which has been the case a lot this year. In practice this morning I felt really good, then with the new tyre in Q1 we struggled and started very far. To come from 19th to fight for the top ten is something we have to focus on and be happy about.”
Raul Fernandez – P14
“This morning we tried something different for the time attack, but it didn’t work. For me, it was one of the most difficult qualifying sessions of the year because I didn’t have a good feeling on the bike. It was not easy to manage it and I was very frustrated. But, in the end, we are here to try something different, trying to make up more time and to get the maximum out of the bike. These things happen sometimes when you test something new. In the end, I was almost last on the grid but, in the Sprint, we did a really good job. I was fighting with all the Aprilia’s and although we had more or less the same issues like yesterday, I’m trying to get 100% out of the bike. It’s not easy to start almost last and then arrive up there with the other Aprilia’s and tomorrow maybe we can find a little bit more. We are not where we want to be at the moment.”
Aleix Espargaro – P15
“It was a complicated day because I didn’t lap a lot on Friday, so I struggled. Physically, I’m not at 100%, I am still in pain. I was unable to go through to Q2, but I still did a fast time. The sprint race was going well, but as I was coming back in eleventh place, I made a small mistake on turn 3 and lost several positions.”
Augusto Fernandez – P16
“The day was better than yesterday, we improved the lap times and got close to the ‘mid-table’ riders, which is our main target now. In the sprint, the start was good but I got a bit stuck in the opening lap and lost some positions. In terms of pace, we were not far from Jack Miller, so my goal tomorrow is to try being with him. The feeling was good, so let’s try to put everything together to try having a good race on Sunday. It will be a long one, very physical, and a big tyre-drop is expected, so we need to be ready to face all these challenges.“
Alex Rins – P17
“It was tough. Today we put the same package as Fabio on our bike. This had some positive and some negative results. Fabio and I have different riding styles, so the next time we will try something different.”
Takaaki Nakagami – P18
“It was not the Sprint we expected. Since the first lap, I had a different feeling with the front tyre and struggled to be comfortable on the bike. I’m disappointed with our performance because there was potential to do a good job. We are now checking Sprint’s data to understand how to improve for tomorrow’s race. The positive is that we had a good pace, so we’ve got chances on the top 10’s fight. We’ll see on Sunday; the tyre management will be crucial, and we need to be fully prepared for it”.
Luca Marini – P19
“We did not have our best day of the year today, our level from Friday to Saturday remained the same and when we put in a new tyre we aren’t able to gain that much performance. In the past races we were more competitive and today Mir and Zarco both had more pace, so we need to keep trying some different things. I think the experiment with the bike setup this weekend has shown it’s not the direction to follow. Tomorrow with the ‘standard’ setting I hope to be more competitive and fight with my teammate.”
Maverick Vinales – P20
“When I’m in the group, I have trouble braking well. I went long several times on turn 3. It was a complicated weekend, because there is no grip and that has a negative impact on the way the bike performs. We’ll try to battle to the end and collect as many points as we can.”
Lorenzo Savadori – P21
“I struggled a lot in the race today because I still work with new pieces on the bike to test further. But, I’m quite happy because in Qualifying 1 went without some extra parts and I was immediately fast and very close to the other Aprilia riders, especially after I wasn’t really working for myself on Friday. So, that is very satisfying. However, I had to go back to testing some parts in the Sprint and I will also use them tomorrow in the long race, so it won’t be an easy one for me.”
Pedro Acosta – DNF
“The day was good overall not taking account of the sprint crash. It was a mistake, we made a small change on the bike, and I was struggling more to stop the bike. I was a bit out of line when I arrived in the corner, and I crashed. We need to try understanding how to avoid these mistakes because we lose a lot of time on track and on the bike. We remain confident and positive about the feeling, but we need to be a bit calmer and try to understand that sometimes P5 is not bad, but we are learning.”
Team Managers
Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager
“We have to keep working for the right set-up for the riders. They cannot show their potential at the moment from mid-race because we are suffering with a lack of rear grip. Today was the maximum we could do in these conditions. We’ll try again tomorrow.”
Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director
“Qualifying went well for Fabio, and he was able to take sixth place on the grid, which is a good result for us. His start was good too, but Binder’s overtake lost him positions. Considering the pace that Fabio was able to maintain for the rest of the Sprint, this 13-lap dash could have ended differently for us. Álex was riding with a, for him, new setting, and that’s never easy, but it gave his crew some new data to work with. We will analyse everything carefully this evening. We think that we can improve on today’s results in the Race, so that’s our target for tomorrow.”
Wilco Zeelenberg – Trackhouse Aprilia Team Manager
“It was good to see that Raul was the best Aprilia rider in today’s Sprint race but, clearly, position wise the result was not the best. We want to be in the top ten and get points in these Sprint races. This track does not suit the Aprilia particularly well but Raul did a good job to be the fastest of the four. With Lorenzo, we again had an issue at the start. We are not sure what really happened but his launch was not clean and it seems that a slight technical issue meant his race pace did not match where we expected the bike to be. Of course, he is testing for Aprilia and they managed to gain some good data, at least, from the race to help make improvements.”
Romano Albesiano- Aprilia
“It was a difficult day and Aleix’s physical condition certainly did not help. It is clear that we are going through a complex stage. Even going back to solutions that had worked well at the beginning of the season did not solve some of the problems, especially in race management. We need to keep working and bring something more effective to the long race. Being able to manage the overtaking, slipstreams and group battle phases is fundamental and these are aspects which are giving us troubles at the moment.”
Nicolas Goyon – GASGAS Team Manager
“We arrived in Buriram with high expectations knowing that our package has been fast here in the last seasons, and it was a relief for us that Pedro Acosta was declared fit to participate in the Thai GP with a shoulder causing him less pain. In qualifying, Pedro never really had a clear lap but qualified in P7, but he was confident that the bike was fast. We are clearly disappointed to finish the sprint with another sprint, and I hope that we will learn from these mistakes, because it is the 4th crash in a row across both sprint and race, while having a good feeling. We need to think more and fix this from tomorrow. Augusto Fernandez had a decent race, took a good start up to P15, but then dropped down to P20. After that, he managed to pass a few riders to finish in 16th. It is not the target, but this is the situation we are in at the moment. “
Thailand MotoGP Sprint Race Report
Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) charged to victory in the Tissot Sprint at the PT Grand Prix of Thailand, taking glory by 1.357s after a sublime performance escaping at the front and leaving the others to chase. Behind, the top two in the title fight went toe-to-toe, with Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) just able to hold off Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) on the final two laps to increase his Championship lead to 22 points.
Once the lights went out, Bagnaia made a phenomenal launch from pole, taking a slight advantage on the run to Turn 1. However, Martin was on the attack, launching a move down the inside and sending both himself as his main title rival wide enough to allow Bastianini and Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) through. Martin was now left with work to do, dropping even further to fifth as Pedro Acosta (Re Bull GASGAS Tech3) also picked his way past and defended when Martin tried to move straight back through.
On Lap 2 Martin was back in fourth though, past the rookie before Acosta had overcooked it and slid out. The next target for the Championship leader was Marc Marquez. Martin made a textbook move at the final corner to overtake Marc, it got close on the exit but Martin fended off the attack, digging in to now chase down the next target: Bagnaia in second.
Martin began to edge closer to the reigning World Champion as Bagnaia, Martin and Marc Marquez were all glued close together on track. Once Martin was right on the tailpipes of he wasted little time, pouncing at Turn 7. And there came some controversy as he ran slightly wide on the exit, that proving the next strike to award the Spaniard to a track limits warning. But he kept the position…
It was building to be a tense finale, with Bastianini checked out at the front but the title rivals separated by a mere 0.350s on the chase. Bagnaia continued to pile on the pressure at every corner in an enthralling end to Saturday’s action, looking like he was going to be able to set up a move.
By the final lap though, Martin had reeled in Bastianini more than Bagnaia had managed to make ground on Martin, and in a tense final few kms the three sliced round Buriram. Ultimately, the ‘Beast’ kept it tidy to take a second Sprint win of the year in style, Martin held on under intense pressure to take second, and Bagnaia was forced to cede two more points in that Championship battle as he came home third.
Marc Marquez crossed the line in fourth, grabbing some strong points after he was unable to match the pace of the top three in the latter stages. The eight-time World Champion finished ahead of team-mate Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP), who rounded out the top five positions after a sensational ride. The Spaniard had to work hard in the closing laps, with Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) finishing a further 0.947s behind in sixth.
Further back, Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team’s Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Di Giannantonio had a battle of their own. The Italians fought it out throughout the Sprint as Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) began to drop down the order after climbing to P6 in the opening stages. Bezzecchi took P7 in the end, a tenth ahead of his team-mate as Binder was forced to watch on and settle for the final point in ninth.
Another ding dong just behind saw Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) able to escape Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) to round out the top ten, with the Australian then forced to fend off Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) by the flag as the Frenchman also stayed ahead of Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team).
Thailand MotoGP Sprint Race Results
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | E Bastiaini | Duc | 19m31.131 |
| 2 | J Martin | Duc | +1.357 |
| 3 | F Bagnaia | Duc | +2.372 |
| 4 | M Marquez | Duc | +5.402 |
| 5 | A Marquez | Duc | +10.140 |
| 6 | F Morbidelli | Duc | +11.087 |
| 7 | M Bezzecchi | Duc | +11.538 |
| 8 | F Giannantonio | Duc | +11.680 |
| 9 | B Binder | KTM | +13.692 |
| 10 | F Quartararo | Yam | +14.483 |
| 11 | J Miller | KTM | +18.397 |
| 12 | J Zarco | Hon | +18.544 |
| 13 | J Mir | Hon | +19.265 |
| 14 | R Fernandez | Apr | +19.688 |
| 15 | A Espargaro | Apr | +19.988 |
| 16 | A Fernandez | KTM | +21.298 |
| 17 | A Rins | Yam | +21.413 |
| 18 | T Nakagami | Hon | +23.400 |
| 19 | L Marini | Hon | +23.979 |
| 20 | M Viñales | Apr | +29.474 |
| 21 | L Savadori | Apr | +39.389 |
Thai MotoGP Qualifying Times
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | Speed |
| Q2 | ||||
| 1 | F Bagnaia | Duc | 1m28.700 | 333.3 |
| 2 | E Bastianini | Duc | +0.232 | 334.3 |
| 3 | J Martin | Duc | +0.430 | 334.3 |
| 4 | M Bezzecchi | Duc | +0.624 | 330.2 |
| 5 | M Marquez | Duc | +0.686 | 333.3 |
| 6 | F Quartararo | Yam | +0.708 | 334.3 |
| 7 | P Acosta | KTM | +0.719 | 340.6 |
| 8 | F Giannantoni | Duc | +0.735 | 330.2 |
| 9 | A Marquez | Duc | +0.827 | 327.2 |
| 10 | M Viñales | Apr | +0.928 | 333.3 |
| 11 | F Morbidelli | Duc | +1.036 | 335.4 |
| 12 | J Zarco | Hon | +1.097 | 335.4 |
| Q1 | ||||
| 13 | B Binder | KTM | (*) 0.129 | 330.2 |
| 14 | A Espargaro | Apr | (*) 0.162 | 336.4 |
| 15 | J Miller | KTM | (*) 0.367 | 331.2 |
| 16 | A Fernandez | KTM | (*) 0.422 | 332.3 |
| 17 | A Rins | Yam | (*) 0.429 | 328.2 |
| 18 | T Nakagami | Hon | (*) 0.497 | 328.2 |
| 19 | J Mir | Hon | (*) 0.639 | 334.3 |
| 20 | R Fernandez | Apr | (*) 0.696 | 330.2 |
| 21 | L Marini | Hon | (*) 0.731 | 333.3 |
| 22 | L Savadori | Apr | (*) 1.186 | 335.4 |
MotoGP Championship Standings
| Pos | Rider | Points |
| 1 | Martin | 433 |
| 2 | Bagnaia | 411 |
| 3 | Marquez | 351 |
| 4 | Bastianini | 343 |
| 5 | Binder | 193 |
| 6 | Acosta | 181 |
| 7 | Viñales | 171 |
| 8 | Morbidelli | 155 |
| 9 | Di Giannantonio | 152 |
| 10 | Bezzecchi | 137 |
| 11 | Espargaro | 136 |
| 12 | Marquez | 130 |
| 13 | Quartararo | 93 |
| 14 | Miller | 71 |
| 15 | Oliveira | 71 |
| 16 | Fernandez | 66 |
| 17 | Zarco | 40 |
| 18 | Nakagami | 28 |
| 19 | Rins | 23 |
| 20 | Fernandez | 21 |
| 21 | Mir | 20 |
| 22 | Espargaro | 12 |
| 23 | Marini | 9 |
| 24 | Pedrosa | 7 |
| 25 | 25 Bradl | 2 |
| 26 | 26 Gardner | 0 |
| 27 | 27 Savadori | 0 |
Moto2
Ai Ogura (MT Helmets – MSI) collected a crucial pole position at the PT Grand Prix of Thailand to hand himself the best possible starting slot for match point Sunday. The Japanese star set a 1:34.728 to beat Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) by 0.051s as rookie star Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team) completed a front row that was split by just 0.074s.
Battling through the pain, Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) slotted home a late PB lap to earn P4 in Q2, but that will turn into P7 after the Italian was handed a three-place grid penalty for his involvement in Friday’s incident with Zonta van den Goorbergh (RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP).
That promoted Marcos Ramirez (OnlyFans American Racing Team) to the front of Row 2 in P4, with the Spaniard joined on the second row by Filip Salač (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) and Albert Arenas (Gresini Moto2).
Australian GP winner Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools SpeedUp) will launch from P8 in his bid to try and stop Ogura from claiming the 2024 crown in Thailand.
Teenage rookie Senna Agius did not have an easy time in the Friday sessions and the P2 on Saturday morning did not bring the improvements he would have wished for. As a result, the young Australian, who celebrated his world championship podium debut just a week ago on Phillip Island with third place, had to start in Q1, where he shone with fast sector times, but ultimately missed out on Q2 in seventh place, 0.338s behind the leader. From twentieth on the grid in row seven, the road to the points is not far away, which is why the Aussie is hoping for a good start and a groundbreaking opening phase of the 22-lap race.
Senna Agius – P21
“It’s like a rollercoaster ride. Last weekend was so gnarly, but life goes on here in Thailand and it’s not the same for us. I’m quite disappointed because we didn’t really find a good step this morning, even though the time improved. Still, unfortunately, I didn’t make it out of Q1 into Q2 this afternoon. It is what it is and the race will be very long tomorrow, especially with regard to the tyres. So, just keep calm and go for it tomorrow.”
Moto2 Qualifying Results
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | Speed |
| Q2 | ||||
| 1 | A Ogura | Bos | 1m34.728 | 274.8 |
| 2 | A Canet | Kal | +0.051 | 273.4 |
| 3 | D Moreira | Kal | +0.074 | 275.5 |
| 4 | T Arbolino | Kal | +0.138 | 276.9 |
| 5 | M Ramirez | Kal | +0.143 | 277.6 |
| 6 | F Salac | Kal | +0.143 | 278.3 |
| 7 | A Arenas | Kal | +0.190 | 276.9 |
| 8 | F Aldeguer | Bos | +0.208 | 277.6 |
| 9 | S Garcia | Bos | +0.284 | 278.3 |
| 10 | M Gonzalez | Kal | +0.305 | 277.6 |
| 11 | J Dixon | Kal | +0.393 | 276.9 |
| 12 | A Sasaki | Kal | +0.446 | 277.6 |
| 13 | S Chantra | Kal | +0.461 | 278.3 |
| 14 | A Lopez | Bos | +0.506 | 279.7 |
| 15 | Z Goorbergh | Kal | +0.575 | 274.1 |
| 16 | D Öncü | Kal | +0.618 | 279.7 |
| 17 | D Binder | Kal | +0.873 | 276.9 |
| 18 | D Foggia | Kal | +0.930 | 279.7 |
| Q1 | ||||
| 19 | I Guevara | Kal | (*) 0.297 | 275.5 |
| 20 | J Navarro | Kal | (*) 0.333 | 275.5 |
| 21 | S Agius | Kal | (*) 0.338 | 272.0 |
| 22 | J Alcoba | Kal | (*) 0.395 | 275.5 |
| 23 | M Aji | Kal | (*) 0.452 | 273.4 |
| 24 | J Masia | Kal | (*) 0.608 | 274.8 |
| 25 | X Cardelus | Kal | (*) 0.664 | 276.9 |
| 26 | B Baltus | Kal | (*) 0.673 | 274.1 |
| 27 | A Escrig | For | (*) 1.050 | 275.5 |
| 28 | H Voight | Kal | (*) 1.802 | 270.6 |
| 29 | X Artigas | For | (*) 3.120 | 274.8 |
Moto2 Championship Standings
| Pos | R Rider | Points |
| 1 | A Ogura | 241 |
| 2 | A Canet | 176 |
| 3 | F Aldguer | 175 |
| 4 | S Garcia | 175 |
| 5 | A Lopez | 163 |
| 6 | M Gonzalez | 163 |
| 7 | J Roberts | 153 |
| 8 | C Vietti | 140 |
| 9 | T Arbolino | 135 |
| 10 | J Dixon | 133 |
| 11 | M Ramirez | 85 |
| 12 | J Alcba | 79 |
| 13 | S Chantra | 78 |
| 14 | A Arenas | 68 |
| 15 | S Agius | 63 |
| 16 | F Salc | 59 |
| 17 | D Biner | 54 |
| 18 | D Moreira | 47 |
| 19 | B Baltus | 40 |
| 20 | D Öncü | 34 |
| 21 | I Guevara | 34 |
| 22 | Z Vd | 31 |
| 23 | D Foggia | 18 |
| 24 | X Artigas | 10 |
| 25 | B Bensneyder | 7 |
| 26 | J Navrro | 6 |
| 27 | A Saski | 4 |
| 28 | J Masia | 4 |
| 29 | M Aji | 4 |
| 30 | M Ferari | 1 |
| 31 | X Cardelus | 0 |
| 32 | M Schotter | 0 |
| 33 | A Escrig | 0 |
| 34 | M Pasini | 0 |
| 35 | H Voiht | 0 |
| 36 | D Muñoz | 0 |
| 37 | U Orrdre | 0 |
Moto3
It’s been a long time coming but finally, following a fantastic final lap in Q2, Joel Kelso (BOE Motorsports) is a Grand Prix polesitter for the first time as the Australian’s 1:40.603 saw him beat Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) by 0.073s in Buriram.
After being in the group that didn’t get out of pitlane in time to complete a final flying lap, Angel Piqueras (Leopard Racing) settled for an outside-of-the-front-row start in P3.
World Champion David Alonso (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) starts from the middle of the second row in P5 as he aims to claim a record-breaking 12th win of the season.
The Colombian is sandwiched between fourth place Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) and sixth place Scott Ogden (FleetSafe Honda – MLav Racing). The Japanese star will be aiming to stand on the podium for a second year in a row in Thailand, with the British rider hoping to challenge for a maiden rostrum.
Hoping to keep himself in the driving seat for the silver medal in 2024, Daniel Holgado (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) will start tomorrow’s race from P7. Meanwhile, Ivan Ortola (MT Helmets – MSI) will go in search of keeping himself in the mix for that P2 overall spot from 9th on the grid.
Jacob Roulstone felt pretty content with his first day in Buriram despite being a fair way back in the standings, but the feeling on both bike and track was good. The rookie headed to P2 with a good margin for improvement, and he nearly got his direct Q2 ticket at the end of play in Practice 2. The Australian’s last flying lap in 1’41.102 had him provisionally within the top 14, but he was ejected in the final seconds, to finish in P15 by a tiny margin of 0.005 seconds from the Q2 spots. When he returned on track for Q1, Roulstone provisionally sat in 5th halfway through the session. After a quick pit box return to change tyres while he had now gone down to P7, Roulstone had more or less 3 minutes to make the difference as he hoped to join Q2. He further improved to 1’41.494, but once again, it was too short to make it to the next session. 0.069 seconds separated him from Q2, as he finished P5 and will start the Thai Grand Prix from 19th on Sunday.
Jacob Roulstone – P19
“Better day than yesterday, we felt really good on the bike with good confidence. It was a shame to get out at the last second from the top 14 and not make it to Q2 directly. I am disappointed with our Q1, we did not get our position right, although I was happy with the pace. We have a lot of positives to bring to tomorrow’s race, but we just need to figure out the positioning a bit better, and benefit better from the slipstreams. Thanks to the team as always for the work!”
Moto3 Qualifying Results
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | Speed |
| Q1 | ||||
| 1 | J Kelso | KTM | 1m40.603 | 226.8 |
| 2 | C Veijer | Hus | +0.073 | 230.2 |
| 3 | A Piqueras | Hon | +0.124 | 229.2 |
| 4 | T Furusato | Hon | +0.262 | 227.3 |
| 5 | D Alonso | CFM | +0.356 | 225.9 |
| 6 | S Ogden | Hon | +0.416 | 227.3 |
| 7 | D Holgado | Gas | +0.514 | 229.2 |
| 8 | D Almansa | Hon | +0.571 | 230.2 |
| 9 | I Ortola | KTM | +0.583 | 231.2 |
| 10 | L Lunetta | Hon | +0.620 | 231.2 |
| 11 | A Fernandez | Hon | +0.655 | 227.3 |
| 12 | R Yamanaka | KTM | +0.787 | 232.2 |
| 13 | M Bertelle | Hon | +0.812 | 232.7 |
| 14 | S Nepa | KTM | +0.975 | 231.7 |
| 15 | F Farioli | Hon | +1.093 | 231.7 |
| 16 | J Rueda | KTM | +1.110 | 227.3 |
| 17 | D Muñoz | KTM | +1.248 | 226.8 |
| 18 | J Esteban | CFM | +2.066 | 229.7 |
| Q1 | ||||
| 19 | J Roulstone | Gas | (*) 0.253 | 228.3 |
| 20 | T Suzuki | Hus | (*) 0.321 | 231.2 |
| 21 | X Zurutuza | KTM | (*) 0.381 | 229.7 |
| 22 | E O’shea | Hon | (*) 0.402 | 232.2 |
| 23 | N Carraro | KTM | (*) 0.521 | 231.7 |
| 24 | R Rossi | KTM | (*) 0.931 | 230.7 |
| 25 | T Buasri | Hon | (*) 1.306 | 234.7 |
| 26 | N Dettwiler | KTM | (*) 2.245 | 228.3 |
Moto3 Championship Standings
| Pos | Rider | Points |
| 1 | D Alonso | 346 |
| 2 | D Holgado | 232 |
| 3 | C Veijer | 209 |
| 4 | I Ortola | 191 |
| 5 | A Fernandez | 153 |
| 6 | D Muñoz | 152 |
| 7 | A Piqueras | 137 |
| 8 | A Rueda | 128 |
| 9 | J Kelso | 115 |
| 10 | R Yamanaka | 106 |
| 11 | T Furusato | 97 |
| 12 | L Lunetta | 86 |
| 13 | T Suzuki | 82 |
| 14 | S Nepa | 78 |
| 15 | J Roulstone | 53 |
| 16 | M Bertelle | 49 |
| 17 | J Esteban | 45 |
| 18 | R Rossi | 30 |
| 19 | F Farioli | 27 |
| 20 | N Carraro | 22 |
| 21 | S Ogden | 15 |
| 22 | X Zurutuza | 11 |
| 23 | D Almansa | 11 |
| 24 | V Perez | 3 |
| 25 | N Dettwiler | 2 |
| 26 | J Whatley | 0 |
| 27 | T Buasri | 0 |
| 28 | J Rosenthaler | 0 |
| 29 | E O’shea | 0 |
| 30 | R Wakamatsu | 0 |
| 31 | D Shahril | 0 |
| 32 | H Al | 0 |
| 33 | A Aditama | 0 |
