MotoGP Thailand GP: Martin holds off Binder, Bagnaia to win nail-biter

In a strategic 26-lap grand prix where tyre preservation was crucial, Martin, Binder and Bagnaia engaged in a tense dice over the final laps for victory.

Having briefly lost the lead on lap 23, Martin came back through again on Binder on the penultimate tour and held firm on the final lap to score his fourth grand prix victory of the season.

Binder had to surrender second after exceeding track limits on the final lap, demoting him a spot behind Bagnaia – gifting the factory Ducati rider an important four points.

Heading into the final three rounds, Martin now trails Bagnaia by just 13 points having already cut his lead to 18 with victory in the sprint on Saturday in Thailand.

Marco Bezzecchi remains just in touch in the championship chase, 79 points adrift, after finishing fourth on his VR46 Ducati ahead of Aleix Espargaro on the factory Aprilia.

In a carbon copy of the start in the sprint, Martin didn’t get off the line as strong from pole as second-placed Luca Marini on the VR46 Ducati.

But Martin was able to outbrake Marini into Turn 1 to hold the lead as Espargaro and Bagnaia slotted in behind.

Espargaro moved into second ahead of Marini at Turn 4 on the opening lap, while Binder took fourth from Bagnaia at Turn 9.

This forced Bagnaia to check up, dropping him behind Gresini Ducati’s Alex Marquez – who was the only rider on the contra-strategy with the rear tyre, opting for the medium over the hard.

Bagnaia took fifth back from Marquez on lap two briefly, only to be passed again as Martin held a stable three-tenth lead over Espargaro, keeping the pace slow to preserve his rubber.

Binder took third from Marini on lap three as Bagnaia came under fire from Honda’s Marc Marquez, the pair engaging in a nice duel for sixth across laps four and five.

Bagnaia would ultimately get the upper hand on Marquez on lap five, while Binder moved up to second ahead of Espargaro the tour before.

With the pace being as steady as it was, the top 18 on lap seven were covered by just five seconds.

By lap 10, Bagnaia had worked his way up to fourth ahead of Marini, who slipped behind Alex Marquez on the fifth tour.

A crash for Alex Marquez on lap 13 at Turn 10 cleared the way for Bagnaia to move up to third as the top three pulled eight tenths clear of the pack behind.

It wouldn’t be until lap 20 that the battle at the front kicked into its next phase, with Binder launching his first raid on the lead at Turns 8 and 9 on Martin.

Martin won out in this melee and did so again at Turn 3 on the next tour after Binder ran wide, which also forced Bagnaia to check up in third to avoid contact with the KTM.

Binder made a move stick on Martin on lap 23 at Turn 8, but the Pramac rider didn’t relent and retook the lead two tours later at Turn 3 after the KTM man ran wide.

Bagnaia tried a daring raid around the outside of the pair of them on the brakes into the final corner, but couldn’t pull it off, remaining third.

Martin didn’t allow Binder another chance to come through on the final lap and took the chequered flag to complete the double in Thailand.

On the final lap, Binder ran onto the green run-off area on the exit of Turn 5, which copped him a one-place penalty at the chequered flag, promoting Bagnaia to second.

With 0.253s covering the top three, it marks the fourth-closest podium in premier class history.

After a dice with his VR46 team-mate, Bezzecchi took fourth from Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and the Yamaha of Fabio Quartararo.

Marc Marquez was seventh in the end as Marini faded to eighth, with Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini) and Pramac’s Johann Zarco rounding out the top 10.

Franco Morbidelli was 11th on the second Yamaha from Joan Mir on the Honda, Ducati’s Enea Bastianini, LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami and Raul Fernandez (RNF).

Technical issues forced Aprilia duo Maverick Vinales and Miguel Oliveira (RNF) to retire.

MotoGP Thailand GP - Race results:

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

         

Driver Info			Main Information Additional Data
Cla	Rider	#		Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Retirement	Points
1	J. Martin Pramac Racing	89		Ducati	26	-				25
2	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	1		Ducati	26	+0.253 0.253	0.253			20
3	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33		KTM	26	+0.114 0.114				16
4	M. Bezzecchi Team VR46	72		Ducati	26	+2.005 2.005	1.891			13
5	A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team	41		Aprilia	26	+4.303 4.303	2.298			11
6	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20		Yamaha	26	+4.550 4.550	0.247			10
7	M. Marquez Repsol Honda Team	93		Honda	26	+5.362 5.362	0.812			9
8	L. Marini Team VR46	10		Ducati	26	+6.778 6.778	1.416			8
9	F. Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing	49		Ducati	26	+7.569 7.569	0.791			7
10	J. Zarco Pramac Racing	5		Ducati	26	+9.377 9.377	1.808			6
11	F. Morbidelli Yamaha Factory Racing	21		Yamaha	26	+11.168 11.168	1.791			5
12	J. Mir Repsol Honda Team	36		Honda	26	+11.990 11.990	0.822			4
13	E. Bastianini Ducati Team	23		Ducati	26	+12.323 12.323	0.333			3
14	T. Nakagami Team LCR	30		Honda	26	+14.537 14.537	2.214			2
15	R. Fernández RNF Racing	25		Aprilia	26	+15.093 15.093	0.556			1
16	J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	43		KTM	26	+17.640 17.640	2.547
17	A. Fernandez Tech 3	37		KTM	26	+21.307 21.307	3.667
18	P. Espargaro Tech 3	44		KTM	26	+21.435 21.435	0.128
dnf	M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team	12		Aprilia	23				Retirement
dnf	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73		Ducati	12				Retirement
dnf	M. Oliveira RNF Racing	88		Aprilia	6				Retirement
View full results

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