Jorge Martin (Ducati-Pramac), in the fight for the title, set the best time in the qualifying practice session for the Thai MotoGP Grand Prix on Friday, with leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) settling for seventh place. The Spaniard, who has two disappointing weekends, between a fall in Indonesia and a bad strategy in Australia, hopes to make up part of the 27 points separating him from the Italian title holder in Buriram. On a dry track, in very hot weather, Martin dominated the first free practice session then the qualifying practice session. But he ended his day with a fall, just after having signed his reference lap, in 1 min 29 sec 826/1000, at the very end of the session. “Martinator” appears as the No. 1 favorite for the main qualifying session (Q2) on Saturday, with the possibility of securing a fourth pole position in six weekends.
Bagnaia has never been close to securing the first places, but his time, 243 thousandths behind his Spanish rival, prevents him from going through the repechage. The Italian Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati-VR46), third in the World Championship, and the Spaniard Maverick Vinales (Aprilia), author of the second best time, finished in the top 10, synonymous with direct qualification for Q2. Six-time world champion, Spaniard Marc Marquez (Honda), who set the 11th time, will have to go through the repechage.
The Thai round continues on Saturday, with free practice from 10:10 a.m. to 10:40 a.m. local time (03:10 a.m.-03:40 a.m. GMT), followed by Q1 from 10:50 a.m. to 11:05 a.m. (03:50 a.m.-04:10 a.m. GMT) and Q2 from 11:15 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. (04:15 a.m.-04:30 a.m. GMT). ), which will determine the starting grid for the sprint race at 3:00 p.m. (08:00 GMT).
Essay Ranking:
1. Jorge Martin (ESP/Ducati-Pramac) 1:29.8262. Maverick Viñales (ITA/Aprilia) at 0.0983. Aleix Espargaro (ESP/Aprilia) 0.1604. Johann Zarco (FRA/Ducati-Pramac) 0.1805. Luca Marini (ITA/Ducati-VR46) 0.1996. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA/Ducati-VR46) 0.2087. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati) 0.2438. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) 0.2489. Brad Binder (AFS/KTM) 0.29510. Augusto Fernandez (ESP/GasGas Tech3) 0.30411. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) 0.369…15. Pol Espargaro (ESP/GasGas-Tech3) 0.44216. Joan Mir (ESP/Honda) 0.469…19. Enea Bastianini (ITA/Ducati) 1,809
