Bagnaia claims victory in the wet as the gap in the championship closes
Pecco Bagnaia finished P1 in the Grand Prix of Thailand, 2.9 seconds ahead of championship rival Jorge Martin.
The rain-affected race meant the unknown variables could cause havoc, and off the start Martin achieved the perfect launch, vaulting himself into the lead of the race. Elsewhere, Fabio Quartararo managed to drive from P6 to P2 by the first corner, but ran wide on the exit, dropping him to 4th.
Martin was then deep into the hairpin of turn 2 and 3, allowing an opportunity for Bagnaia up the inside, with Martin winning the drag race down to the sweeping left of turn 4.
The pressure from behind began to mount, with the gap between the two leaders slowly creeping down, and on lap 5, Martin went into turn 2 too deep, allowing both Bagnaia and Marc Marquez to take advantage, dropping the pramac rider to 3rd.
Yesterday’s sprint winner, Enea Bastianini, had a race to forget. Starting in P2, he had a poor launch and a cautious turn 1, dropping him to 10th. By the end of the first lap, he was all the way down in P13. He eventually began to claw back the places until an unfortunate crash saw him tumble down the order. He eventually crossed the line in P14, 27 seconds behind his race-winning teammate.
Marc Marquez on the 2023 Gresini Ducati began to close the gap on Bagnaia and by lap 9 was able to force a move down into the 90-degree final corner. Pecco was able to cut back underneath him and regain the lead, but the pressure was mounting. Marquez tried the same move a few laps later, but the same outcome was inevitable. Eventually on lap 14, Marquez crashed at turn 7 with the front tyre tucking underneath him, ending his fight for victory. This crash gave Bagnaia a two second cushion to Martin in P2, allowing him to control the pace and win the race by a comfortable margin.
It wasn’t Alex Marquez’s day either. A crash on the sighting lap meant he couldn’t take up his P9 grid slot and had to start from the pit lane. An eventual P10 finish, 1.1 seconds ahead of his brother Marc, was the best he could manage.
As for the fast-starting Quartararo, he was soon overtaken by Binder for P4, and then on lap 4 at turn 8, Morbidelli pulled a reckless overtake, forcing Quartararo to crash, ending his chance of points. For his indiscretion, Morbidelli received a long-lap penalty, which he took before crashing out a few laps later at the same corner.
KTM must’ve been doing a rain dance and come Sunday their wish came true. Binder and Miller, who started P13 and P15 respectively, soon found themselves running in the top 5, with the Aussie (Miller) having the stronger pace of the two factory KTM’s, running in P3 after Marc Marquez’s crash. This would’ve been Jack’s first podium of the year, if it wasn’t for his replacement in 2025, Pedro Acosta.
The GasGas rider spent most of his race running an arms length behind Binder until Lap 22 where at turn 4 he was able to turn underneath Binder, allowing him to chase down the other KTM ahead. His pace was much faster and on the penultimate lap (lap 25), they had the battle of the race. Acosta launched a dive around the outside of the turn 2 and 3, meaning they were side by side heading into turn 4. Miller then bravely lay the bike on Acosta, allowing him to regain the podium spot. Acosta then pulled to the outside for the quick left, right sequence, allowing him to glide down the inside into turn 7, where he then was able to pull away and finish P3 – his first Grand Prix finish since Indonesia a month ago.
Unfortunately for Miller, the situation worsened, as he lost P4 to Fabio DiGiannantonio into turn 2. Diggia’s pace from mid-race distance onwards was by far the fastest on track. A poor race start meant he was unable battle for positions on the podium, but it certainly caught the attention of those around the paddock. His teammate didn’t fare as well, crashing into turn 1 on lap 4, calling his wet weather performance ‘simply rubbish’.
One of my riders of the weekend, Johan Zarco, finished P8 for LCR Honda.He was able to capitalise on a strong grid position, and had a hard-fought battle with Alex Marquez, which he eventually won. Vinales and Espargaro finished 7th and 9th respectively for Aprillia, with Marini in 12th and Joan Mir rounding out the points in P15 for the Honda team.
This race leaves Martin 17 points ahead of Bagnaia with two rounds to go. Jorge can still be pleased with this weekend, as he didn’t ride over the limit, recognised the win wasn’t possible and settled for 20 points instead, knowing he can still win the championship finishing P2 in the remaining races.
Bagnaia showed his emotion over the line, fist-bumping the air, signalling to everyone that he still has the belief he can win this championship. The battle for P3 remains tight with both Marc Marquez and Bastianini crashing during the race, with Marquez now 11 points ahead in the standings, another battle which will go down to the wire.
Martin can win the championship next time out in Malaysia if results go his way, with the pressure on Bagnaia ramping up every time they’re out on track.
The top 10 in the standing are below:
