Written by Isha Reshmi Mohan
After 26 laps in the reported 35°C ambient heat that almost all the riders complained about over the weekend at Chang International Circuit, we can now check off Race One from our calendars with Marc Màrquez taking the first win.
Discussions about shortening the race arose after the Moto3 podium finishers commented on the weather being much warmer than Saturday, along with the crash-filled race that saw over 10 incidents in their series. Given that the MotoGP race was scheduled for the afternoon.
However, all fan activities went ahead as planned throughout the afternoon, and the Moto2 session ran smoothly, with Manuel Gonzalez completing his dominant streak for the weekend and taking home the first victory of the season.
Grand Prix Results
1st - Marc Márquez, Ducati Lenovo Team, 39:37.244
2nd - Àlex Màrquez, Gresini Racing MotoGP, +1.732
3rd - Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Lenovo Team, +2.398
4th - Franco Morbidelli, Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team, +5.176
5th - Ai Ogura, Trackhouse MotoGP Team , +7.450
6th - Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing, +14.967
7th - Johann Zarco, Honda LCR Team, +15.225
8th - Brad Binder, Redbull KTM Factory Racing, +19.929
9th - Enea Bastianini, Redbull KTM Tech 3, +20.053
10th- Fabio Di Giannantonio, Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team, +21.546
11th - Jack Miller, Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP, +22.315
12th - Luca Marini, Honda HRC Castrol, +23.940
13th - Fermín Aldegeur, Gresini Racing MotoGP, +23.760
14th- Miguel Oliveira, Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP, +26.097
15th- Fabio Quartararo, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team, +26.456
16th- Maverick Viñales, Redbull KTM Tech 3, +28.770
17th- Àlex Rins, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team, +31.095
18th- Somkiat Chantra, Idemistsu Honda LCR, +31.480
19th - Pedro Acosta, Redbull KTM Factory Racing, +42.115
20th - Lorenzo Savadori, Aprilia Racing, +46.827
RT - Raúl Fernández, Trackhouse MotoGP Team
RT - Joan Mir, Honda HRC Castrol
After the final decision to complete the full race, the last reported track temperature was 51°C on track.
In the opening laps, Marc gave up his position to his brother, drawing attention to the two of them despite Pecco being right behind.
Alex maintained a solid defence against his brother for most of the race, holding his position until Marc reclaimed it in Turn 12 of Lap 23—only to later learn, as Pecco revealed post-race, that Marc had been "playing" with them to conserve his tires.
Fabio Quartararo had an unfortunate slip-up, dropping to P18, but this worked in favor of Marco Bezzecchi, who started P8 and finished P6.
In Turn 1, during the early stages of the race, Pedro Acosta suffered an unfortunate crash but quickly rejoined, dropping from his original P9 to P22.
Celebrating his 100th race appearance in the premier class, Honda HRC’s Joan Mir had a solid practice session, finishing in sixth.
However, his weekend came to a rough end as he crashed in Turn 12 and ultimately retired from the race.
Ai Ogura, celebrating his best debut performance, further cemented the achievement by finishing P5, losing only one position during the race.
Meanwhile, his teammate Raul Fernandez entered the pits on Lap 22 and retired, allowing Savadori to move up to P20.
Following the Yamaha team's belief, instead of comparing the riders to the top overall, they focused on comparing their performances to the top Yamaha rider for a fair comparison.
With that, Pramac’s Jack Miller, who had to drop out of the sprint race on Saturday, tried to maintain his position in P8 but ultimately fell out of the Top 10 after initially being involved in the battle for 8th.
With his drop, none of the Yamaha bikes made it into the Top 10.
Hometown hero Somkiat Chantra completed his first race as a MotoGP rider in Honda colors. He began his journey as a wildcard entry in 2018, the same year MotoGP held its first race in Buriram.
Marc extended his already established lead in the standings, now with a total of 37 points, followed by Alex with 27 and Pecco with 23 points.
Moving on to Race Week two in Argentina, Jorge Martin will still miss the race and won’t be able to see where Aprilia stands in the mix. However, we can hopefully expect more changes between the teams, given the change in environment compared to what we saw over the weekend in Thailand.
Comentarios