Emotion, suspense, unpredictability. That’s how another MotoGP race went, with Jorge Martin getting the better of the competition in Buriram. At the end of a race in which any of the three riders could have won, it was the Spaniard who completed the full race at the Thai GP.
The main race of the weekend got off to a positive start for Martin, who held on to first place, while Bagnaia also moved up to fourth, gaining two positions straight away. The Italian would end up back in sixth position on the first lap after some confusion, while Aleix Espargaro “drilled” through the middle to take second, with Brad Binder in third.
The first few laps were very intense and the riders were very close, and now it was Binder who beat A. Espargaro into second place, with Marc Marquez also overtaking Bagnaia to take sixth.
With five laps completed Martín was leading by 0.210s over Binder, who in turn had Alex Marquez at 0.422s. Luca Marini was fourth and A. Espargaro fifth.
Six laps finished and Miguel Oliveira was the first rider to abandon the race, with problems on his Aprilia RS-GP.
Bagnaia was showing some improvement and moved up to fifth.
That was the top ten after eight laps, with A. Marquez in the podium places:
Marini was the next to have no arguments with Bagnaia, who was now fourth. Martin remained two-tenths ahead of Binder, while A. Marquez was 0.448s off the lead. Marquez was 0.448s off the leader and had the #1 at 0.525s.
Halfway through the race, there was an important setback: A. Marquez crashed at turn 10 and was out of the race while riding in third position, thus “offering” the podium to Bagnaia. 0.626s separated third from first, Martín.
Johann Zarco, winner of the last GP, was a distant 13th, behind Joan Mir. The KTMs were also in opposite camps, with Binder in second, Jack Miller in 15th. The two GASGAS Tech3s were together at the bottom of the table in 18th and 19th.
In the final laps Martín was losing time to Binder and the South African was 0.135s behind. Fabio Quartararo, further back, climbed to seventh in a swap with Marc Marquez, at a stage when the Mooney VR46 Racing Team duo were battling for fourth place with Bezzecchi getting the better of Marini for the time being in fourth.
That was the top five with eight laps to go:
A few moments later Binder moved to the front but was slightly wide, allowing Martín to get back to the front of the race. The KTM rider briefly passed him again, but the #89 was able to recover: with five laps to go it was all wide open, as Bagnaia… was also closer, 0.223s off the lead.
At the start of the 23rd lap Binder moved into the lead and this time “closed” the door. Martin was effectively in second place for the first time and within two tenths of the lead.
The tension was almost palpable and Martin seemed very close to the limit, with Bagnaia just 0.111s away and waiting to pounce on the Spaniard. An absolutely decisive phase in the race, where any mistake could be irrecoverable.
Exciting! Martin, despite the difficulties, didn’t give up and on the third sector of the 25th lap he moved into the lead, and at the start of the last lap Bagnaia went from third to first for just a few metres, as Martin and Binder responded and everything went back to the initial formula.
The heart rate was sky-high and all eyes were on the fight for victory. It was the last attack, all or nothing, and Martin ended up getting the better of Binder and Bagnaia and winning, thus completing another GP full of triumphs.
Binder, after finishing second, was informed as soon as he crossed the finish line that he had lost a position for touching the green part of the track, giving second place to Bagnaia.