In Jorge Martin’s quest for the 2023 MotoGP title he got the job done this weekend in Thailand. Martin won both the Sprint race and Grand Prix maximizing his points grab in the title race. Martin now sits 13 points behind Francesco Bagnaia. With 3 race weekends to go, the championship race is gearing up to come down to the wire. We have a potential scenario where the championship title could be decided during the final race of the season.
As It Happened
Martin held the lead into turn one after getting out of the block slightly sluggish and almost losing track position to Luca Marini. Martin stayed ahead and engaged in a back and forth battle with Bagnaia and Brad Binder. Until the end of the race. Binder finished the race in second place but had his lap time deleted on the final lap due to exceeding track limits. The lap time deletion dropping Binder to P3 and Bagnaia up to P2. Due to the penalty Bagnaia was able to walk away with a few more salvage points to aid in his battle with Martin for the title.
Despite a good early launch Luca Marini’s pace fell off substantially in the second half of the race. He would drop all the way back to P8 when the checkered flag flew. Fabio Quartararo and Marc Marquez had a brief battle behind but the margin between the two widened as the two got closer to the end of the race. Marquez will be happy with two top 10 finishes on the weekend. Marquez finished 4 in the sprint race.
Bezzecchi’s Title Run All but Over?
Early in the season it was assumed we’d have a three man race for the title. However, recent form has prevented Marco Bezzecchi from keeping up with Bagnaia and Martin. Now 79 points back in the championship fight seems to have lost out. It will take multiple mistakes from Martin and Bagnaia for Bezzecchi to have a chance at the title. Bezzecchi lost 13 more points to Martin this weekend.
Full Thailand Grand Prix Results
Championship Standings