11.04 am – Martin wins, recovers 9 points and warns Bagnaia for tomorrow
(Paolo Lorenzi) It’s a rubber band duel. Martin wins the half race on Saturday and takes back all the points lost, 9, by Bagnaia in Australia. Eighteen points separate them at the end of a race where the Spaniard did what he does best, take the lead and run away, while Bagnaia fought to stay in the race behind him. Martin started from pole with a slight indecision (this time with the same tires as his rivals), resisted Marini’s excellent sprint, overtook him on the outside at the first corner and from then on it went as usual. his script predicted. He pushed immediately and made the gap. At the finish line he gave Binder a second.
«When I saw that Binder had overtaken Marini I pushed a little more – his immediate comment -. I struggled a bit in the middle of the race with tire wear, at the end I was at the limit”, the only real concern of a solitary race which, looking ahead to Sunday, leaves some questions about the grip of the tyres.
Bagnaia, however, made a mistake at the start (also affected by a contact with Zarco), lost three positions on the first lap and immediately found himself elbowing his way through the group. He struggled to get rid of Alex Marquez and Zarco, both of whom had a perfect braking, but once Bezzecchi caught up and found the same pace as the leaders, he was unable to overtake him. He finished seventh (started sixth), left nine points to Martin, maintaining an 18 lead. «My clutch released later than normal – Pecco’s words -, and at the first corner I found myself bottled up. On the first lap Zarco overtook me at the limit and after two or three laps I found myself fighting to the death with Alex Marquez. If he gets the start wrong, everything gets complicated.”
On Sunday, he will try to exploit his skills, his ability to manage the tyres. A different scenario could open up, but rivals do not offer discounts. Marquez, who started from behind him, instead guessed the start and threw himself headlong into the fray, making decisive overtakes, just like him. He fought with Bezzecchi, overtaken a second time at the last braking point, started eighth, finished fifth, less than two tenths from Aleix Espargaro. Binder, fifth on the grid, earned second place, battling with Marini: «It was difficult with Luca, but I’m satisfied with how it went. Our bike was running very well, I hope to do even better on Sunday.” Another opponent not to be underestimated for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
10.47 am – Martin: «I wanted to attack, I hope to repeat myself in the race»
Naturally satisfied with having recovered 9 points from World Championship leader Bagnaia, Martin commented at the end of the race: «I tried to save the tires a bit at the start but honestly it was complicated. I wanted to attack, then I saw that Binder overtook Marini and I said to myself “it’s time to push a little more”. I pushed and managed to manage until the end, I hope to repeat this result tomorrow.”
10.36am – The new ranking
Pecco Bagnaia leads the MotoGP championship with 369 points against Martin’s 351. In third place, behind, Bezzecchi at 297.
10.25am – Order of arrival
1 Jorge Martin 19’41”593
2 Brad Binder +0”933
3 Luca Marini +1”841
4 Marc Marquez +3”503
5 Aleix Espargar² +3”581
6 Marco Bezzecchi +4”029
7 Francesco Bagnaia +4”121
8 Alex Marquez +6”727
9 Johann Zarco +7”323
10 Jack Miller +9”240
Ore 10:21 – Vince Martin’s Binder and Marini
Jorge Martin on Ducati Pramac won the sprint race of the MotoGP class of the Thai Grand Prix. Behind the Spaniard Brad Binder on Ktm and the unofficial Ducati of Luca Marini’s VR46 team. Francesco Bagnaia’s Ducati was only seventh. (a breath away from Bezzecchi): his margin at the top of the World Championship is reduced to 18 points;
Espargarò ripassa Marquez
Marquez attacks Espargarò while Bagnaia arrives below Bezzecchi
Marquez in fifth position now leads Bezzecchi and Bagnaia; Martin first with a 1.4 margin, controls Binder and Marini
Three laps from the finish line Bagnaia, seventh, is 4 tenths behind Bezzecchi.
Marc Marquez attempts the big break and overtakes Bezzecchi in fifth place.
Martin travels calmly towards the Sprint victory: he has almost two seconds on Binder. Aleix Espargarò two tenths behind Marini. Bagnaia comes close to Marc Marquez (8 tenths).
Now Binder succeeds in his attempt. Marini, third, has 4 tenths of a second over Aleix Espargarò.
Binder attacks Marini and passes him, then ends up wide and has to make up his position. Meanwhile, warning for Bagnaia who exceeded the limits of the track. But he’s about a second behind Marc Marquez.
In sixth position is Marc Marquez, with a second and a half margin over the world champion. Almost the same advantage for Martin over Marini.
Double overtaking by Bagnaia who overtakes Zarco and Alex Marquez – the Frenchman had attacked the Spaniard and both widened too much -, moving himself into 7th position.
Zarco passes and Marquez in sixth place. Martin has almost a second ahead of Marini.
Nice battle between Marc Marquez and Bezzecchi for fifth place. Bagnaia somehow shortens on Zarco.
Bagnaia is now almost 8 tenths behind Zarco in eighth place. A fall in the rear, Nakagami stops. Martin still leading on Marini and Binder, who passed Aleix Espargaro.
Marini takes a good shot, but Martin holds his own. while Bagnaia remains trapped and loses positions compared to Marquez and Zarco.
09.59 am – Reconnaissance tour
There will be 13 laps of this “mini-race” which is about to start on the Burariram circuit.
09.40 am – Martin, pole and track record
Meanwhile, in qualifying Jorge Martin set the track record and will start from pole position for the third time in the last 4 GPs: behind him Luca Marini (Mooney Vr46 Racing) and Aleix Espargarò on Aprilia. As expected, world champion Pecco Bagnaia has to chase with the sixth fastest time: he will start from the second row. Here is the full report.
9.30am – Where to watch the race and Sprint on TV: times
2023-10-28 08:57:49
#Thailand #Martin #wins #Sprint #race #Bagnaia #7th #lead #reduced #points #News
