Jorge Martin cuts Bagnaia’s lead after winning Thailand Sprint

Jorge Martin has cut Pecco Bagnaia’s championship lead to only eighteen points with his commanding victory in the Thailand MotoGP Sprint Race.

Starting from pole position, Prima Pramac Racing rider Jorge Martin secured his tenth victory of the year after winning the Thailand MotoGP Sprint. The title contender outran his competitors early on and maintained that lead for the duration of the 13-lap race.

Martin entered the Buriram Sprint Race with a sense of mission after the unsatisfactory results of his last two races, where he led more laps than any other rider but only managed to score 11 points out of a possible 50.

Jorge Martin took pole position after a tight qualifying session as the fastest rider on the track. He was joined on the front row by Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) and Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team).

As a result of Jorge Martin’s poor start to the race, Luca Marini was able to fight his way into the first corner. However, Martin maintained his advantage and commenced his attempt to spread out the Ducati pack.

At the start, Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia fell back, finishing the first lap in ninth place. Meanwhile, LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami was unable to finish the opening lap of the race following a crash at the final turn. The third rider to go down was GASGAS’ Augusto Fernandez, similarly on the final turn.

In the initial stages of the race, Martin appeared to be maintaining the lead, holding a one-second gap over Marini. This seemed to be an effective tactic for Marini as he faced off against Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Brad Binder.

As the race went on, Martin was eventually able to establish a pretty comfortable lead thanks to Marini and Binder’s ongoing struggle.

Track limits appeared to be a problem, as prevalent riders like Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing), and Bagnaia received warnings. However, Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales received a penalty for going over the track limits on the course.

The conditions which featured a track temperature of 47 degrees and an air temperature of 33, was a further challenge. Throughout the race, riders had to monitor tyre degradation and pay attention to tyre pressures.

Having had an excellent start to the weekend, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez had been fighting for the top five spots in the MotoGP Sprint. His teammate Joan Mir was down in 12th place.

Eventually Jorge Martin prevailed over KTM’s Brad Binder by a mere second at the finish line. Luca Marini secured an outstanding podium as Marc Marquez made a last-minute push for fourth place with a disgruntled Aleix Espargaro slidding to fifth on the Aprilia as a result of the move.

Marco Bezzecchi finished the race in sixth place, one place ahead of Francesco Bagnaia, the leader of the championship. With 136 points still up for grabs, the Ducati rider’s championship lead has shrunk to just 18 points.

As he resumes his injury recovery, Gresini’s Alex Marquez placed eighth at the end of the race. However, a technical problem hampered his teammate Fabio Di Giannantonio from finishing the race.

Pramac’s Johann Zarco wrapped up the points-paying positions while Jack Miller and Quartararo missed out in tenth and eleventh place, respectively.

2023 Thailand MotoGP Sprint Race Results