Jorge Martin Ferocious in Thailand, Bags Double Win

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

Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) cut 9 points off of his deficit to Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo) today in the Thailand Tissot Sprint Race. Martin secured maximum points with the race win finishing almost four and a half seconds ahead of Bagnaia. Martin didn’t get the best start to the race. However his situation situationally improved when Bagnaia fell behind in the opening laps. Martin put his head down when he got into clean air and was able to pull away from the pack. “When I saw Binder overtake Marini, I pushed a little harder. I struggled with tire wear midway through the race, and in the end, I was at the limit, but I’m very happy; it was necessary.” said Martin.

The Battle Behind

The battle behind between Brad Binder (KTM) and Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing) was absolutely sensational. The two traded moves back and forth which almost costs them both track position with a surging Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) and Marc Marquez behind them in 4th and 5th. Marquez pull a late lunge in the closing stages of the race to steal away 4th place from Espargaro. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough race left for him to catch the front runners for a potential podium.

Marquez had the following words after the race, “It was a really busy day today, it’s always like that when you go through Q1. The team did a really good job and we were able to improve, I could ride in a better way and made it to Q2. From starting on the third row we were able to stay in contact with the front group and we were able to put on a good show and have a fun race. The Sprint overall was much better than I expected, we made a good start and battled until the end. The last corner was the opposite of 2019, I attacked and made it stick instead of defending from someone else’s attack. It looks like I have the correct braking point at that corner!”

Full Sprint Race Results are Below

Day one of the Thailand Grand Prix was a nail biter as the championship race is gearing up to be a sensational finish. Jorge Martin continued his recent form as he chases Francesco Bagnaia for the 2023 title. Martin currently sits 27 points behind in the title race after an unfortunate weekend in Australia last weekend. Martin set a 1m28.826s lap which was nearly 0.2s off of the lap record.

The top 10 were separated by under 4 tenths. Martin led the pack but not without a late off into the gravel. Despite the off, he maintained the top spot in the session. With FP3 ahead we will see if Bagnaia can bounce back.

MotoGP Top 10 FP2 Results in Thailand

MotoGP series promoter Dorna made the decision to cancel the Australia Grand Prix Sprint race. Poor weather conditions at Philip Island had already pushed back the sprint race. Conditions continued to worsen and the race was called. Based on the decision the championship points finished with Francesco Bagnaia leading Jorge Martin by 27 points.

There are 4 more race weekends remaining this season. The championship race will continue at the Thai Grand Prix next weekend.

Johann Zarco won the Australian Grand Prix today; his first win in almost 7 years. Zarco beat out championship contender and teammate Jorge Martin on the final lap of the race. He said, “It’s a good feeling, it’s hard to believe…After so many races I finally won, I have to take in the moment. I want to cry, but not at the moment.” It was a heartbreaking finish for Martin who was leading the race with one lap to go. However his tires started to fall off and ultimately he could not maintain the pace in the closing laps. Even further, championship leader and contender Francesco Bagnaia surged past a struggling Martin to P2. Martin ended the race P5. Fabio Di Giannantonio took 3rd in the race. Di Giannantonio currently does no have a seat for 2024. This podium could improve his prospects moving forward.

Weather Resulted in a Change of schedule

Due to poor weather conditions on the forecast for Sunday the Grand Prix was swapped with the sprint race. The Grand Prix would occur Saturday instead of Sunday. Conditions remained favorable for the length of the race. If the sprint race is not cancelled it will take place tomorrow.

In a back forth battle for the top spot Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) secured pole position this weekend in Australia. Martin secured pole in lap record setting fashion putting down a 1m27.246s lap time which put him nearly a half second ahead of P2 finisher Brad Binder (KTM). The Sprint race has been postponed to Sunday due to acclimate weather risks. Win gusts and rain are expected above the safety threshold and the steward made the call to postpone. It is possible that the sprint race may not occur but only time will tell.

With 18 points separating championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo) and Jorge Martin. A possible cancellation of the sprint race would mean only one opportunity to score valuable championship points this weekend. Bagnaia finished third fastest in Q2. He will have an opportunity to challenge for the lead from the beginning of the race.

Full Australian Grand Prix Q2 Results

After losing out in the Tissot Sprint Race to Jorge Martin; losing his championship lead. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo) bounced back in the grand prix to win the race. The win also came at the expense of Jorge Martin who crashed out of the grand prix. Bagnaia started the grand prix from P13 after a disappointing qualifying session that saw him crash out of Q2.

After the race Bagnaia stated, “Incredible! I’m very happy, this win was so important. I was struggling at the weekend, my team again have done such an incredible job, I was trying to adapt, and they gave to me the maximum. This morning in the warm-up I was very happy with what they did, and, in the race, we won again… finally, because it was a long time without a win after the crash in Barcelona. I’m very proud of my team and my crew. I was controlling because I could see that Martin was pushing hard, but I said to myself to wait and see because it was a very long race. I was taking care about the tyres then when I saw the laps to go, I just tried to push again to put me in the front. Winning here and today and starting from P13 is very good. Now I’m ready to fight all the way to the end like always.”

Maverick Viñales and Fabio Quartararo Return to the Podium

Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing) secured P2 in the Grand Prix. He finished 3 tenths behinds Francesco Bagnaia. However, the story in the race was behind as Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoG) started to track down the two front runners in the closing laps. Quartararo was lapping faster than the two ahead and if he had a few more laps in the race he might have caught them. Ultimately he came closest in the final two laps but couldn’t make a move and had to settle for third. Viñales survived Quartararo’s assault keeping the gap between them 1 tenth.

Marc Marquez Double DNFs on the Weekend

After crashing out of the sprint race, Marc Marquez crashed again in the grand prix. A disappointed Marquez stated, “The weekend started in a good way but then day by day, it became more complicated. Today in the race I kept calm, I was losing a little bit of ground, but I was not panicking. The aim was to finish the race and I was riding with this in mind. Unfortunately, at one point in Turn 13 I lost the front and I couldn’t save it. A tricky crash to understand but we start thinking about Australia.”

7 riders DNF’d in the grand prix shortening the field to 14 riders. Bagnaia’s win vaulted him back to the top of the table 18 points ahead of Jorge Martin.

Full Race Results are Below

Championship Standings

Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) secured his fourth Sprint race win in a row to take the points lead in the MotoGP championship standings. The Mooney VR46 Racing pair Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi finished second and third respectively. Martin found for track position with Maverick Viñales until he was able to get by on lap 9 of the race. Viñales had previously built up a half second lead but as the race progressed his pace began to fade.

Marquez Crashes Again

Marc Marquez started the weekend off great but his success in practice did not translate to the sprint race. Marques crashed without completing the first lap of the sprint. “Our race was very short today; I lost the front at Turn 11 on the first lap. It’s a shame to finish the race so early because normally in the first laps I am very strong. We took a risk in the first laps and this is what can happen. The negative is that we didn’t finish the race and miss some information about how the tyres behave but the positive point is that we save our physical condition for the race tomorrow which will be a very long and hard race physically. Tomorrow it will be a tough race, the aim is the top 12.”

Bagnaia Drops in the Championship standings

Francesco Bagnaia’s pure dominance in the MotoGP championships points standings finally was relinquished. Bagnaia finished P8 after a failed overtake sent him wide out out of podium contention. The finish put Martin 7 points ahead in the championship.

After the race Bagnaia had the following comments, “Today the track changed a lot, and I was expecting more. The feeling in FP2 was very good, with used tyres I was quite fast, but in Qualifying, I didn’t feel good. My good lap would have been fifth if it was in Q2, but it wasn’t enough. Then, in the race, if you start P13 you already know it will be very difficult, you must put so much effort into gaining positions. I was blocked behind Enea, I was a bit faster today but the only way to get past him would have been to take him out. I tried to leave space to refresh the front tyre, and when I was doing it, I was lapping like the fastest riders. The speed is there, the performance also; I just need to be maybe more aggressive in the first part of the race and in overtakes.”

Championship Points Standings

With the championship lead on the line both contenders crashed out of Q2 leaving no advantage for either rider as they head into the first opportunity for points this weekend in Indonesia. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing) secured pole position in Q2 setting a 1m29.9780s lap. The top 10 in session were separated by less than 1 second. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) finished P2 ahead of teammate Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing). With the Sprint Race in a half days time. Martin and Bagnaia will look to push forward in order to score valuable points to further improve their championship standing. Currently Bagnaia holds a 3 point lead over Martin heading into the Tissot Sprint. That could all change this weekend.

Full Q2 Results from Indonesia

Marc Marquez announced that he would not be pursuing a run with Repsol Honda in 2024: Marquez and Honda Part Ways. There was speculation that he would land on a Ducati for 2024 but no official announcement from a Ducati team came. That is until today. Gresini Racing have officially announced and confirmed what most already assumed. Marc Marquez will join the Gresini side for the 2024 MotoGP campaign. The team had originally wanted to sign Marquez for a two year deal however Marquez agreed to a one year deal to keep his options obligation free for 2025.

Marquez had the following words, “I’m excited with this new challenge. It wasn’t an easy decision because it’s a big change in every way. But sometimes in life it’s important to get out of the comfort zone and put yourself through the paces in order to keep growing. Bike-chance wise, I know I will have to adapt my riding style to a few things, and it won’t be easy. But I’m also sure that the whole Team Gresini will help me a lot. I can’t wait to get to know the team and start working with them. I’d like to thank Nadia, Carlo and Michele for the trust and respect they showed me.”

Nadia Padovani Gresini, CEO Gresini Racing

“This is a historical moment for the Gresini Family. The fact that Marc Marquez chose to race with us in the upcoming season is absolutely fantastic and I’m extremely happy to be able to make it official. In less than a season we got really close to his brother, and we’ll welcome Marc the same way, as we’re sure he has all the potential to be competitive on the GP23 from the get-go. Last but not least, I would like to thank Fabio Di Giannantonio for his professionalism, and we wish him all the best for the continuation of his career.”

The move to sign Marc Marquez opens the door for Marc to join his brother Alex Marquez for the 2024 campaign. It has been 3 years since the Marquez brother have raced for the same team.