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.
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 sister VR46 Ducati.
But Martin was able to outbrake Marini into Turn 1 to take the lead as Aleix 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 Espargaro and the Yamaha of Fabio Quartararo - but post-race Espargaro was demoted to eighth after becoming the first rider to get a penalty under the new tyre pressure rules.
That pushed Quartararo up to fifth and Marc Marquez sixth as Marini took seventh.
Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini) and Pramac’s Johann Zarco rounding out the top 10.
Franco Morbidelli was 11th on the sister 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 results
Driver Info |
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Cla | Rider | # | Bike | Laps | Time | Interval | km/h | Retirement | Points | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 | J. Martin Pramac Racing | 89 | Ducati | 26 |
39'40.045 |
179.0 | 25 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2 | F. Bagnaia Ducati Team | 1 | Ducati | 26 |
+0.253 39'40.298 |
0.253 | 179.0 | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3 | B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 33 | KTM | 26 |
+0.114 39'40.159 |
179.0 | 16 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
4 | M. Bezzecchi Team VR46 | 72 | Ducati | 26 |
+2.005 39'42.050 |
1.891 | 178.9 | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing | 20 | Yamaha | 26 |
+4.550 39'44.595 |
2.545 | 178.7 | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
6 | M. Marquez Repsol Honda Team | 93 | Honda | 26 |
+5.362 39'45.407 |
0.812 | 178.6 | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
7 | L. Marini Team VR46 | 10 | Ducati | 26 |
+6.778 39'46.823 |
1.416 | 178.5 | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team | 41 | Aprilia | 26 |
+7.303 39'47.348 |
0.525 | 178.7 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | F. Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing | 49 | Ducati | 26 |
+7.569 39'47.614 |
0.266 | 178.5 | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
10 | J. Zarco Pramac Racing | 5 | Ducati | 26 |
+9.377 39'49.422 |
1.808 | 178.3 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | F. Morbidelli Yamaha Factory Racing | 21 | Yamaha | 26 |
+11.168 39'51.213 |
1.791 | 178.2 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 | J. Mir Repsol Honda Team | 36 | Honda | 26 |
+11.990 39'52.035 |
0.822 | 178.1 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | E. Bastianini Ducati Team | 23 | Ducati | 26 |
+12.323 39'52.368 |
0.333 | 178.1 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | T. Nakagami Team LCR | 30 | Honda | 26 |
+14.537 39'54.582 |
2.214 | 178.0 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | R. Fernández RNF Racing | 25 | Aprilia | 26 |
+15.093 39'55.138 |
0.556 | 177.9 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
16 | J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 43 | KTM | 26 |
+17.640 39'57.685 |
2.547 | 177.7 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
17 | A. Fernandez Tech 3 | 37 | KTM | 26 |
+21.307 40'01.352 |
3.667 | 177.5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | P. Espargaro Tech 3 | 44 | KTM | 26 |
+21.435 40'01.480 |
0.128 | 177.4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
dnf | M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team | 12 | Aprilia | 23 |
+3 Laps 35'57.872 |
3 Laps | 174.7 | Mechanical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
dnf | A. Marquez Gresini Racing | 73 | Ducati | 12 |
+14 Laps 18'18.439 |
11 Laps | 179.1 | Accident | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
dnf | M. Oliveira RNF Racing | 88 | Aprilia | 6 |
+20 Laps 9'17.720 |
6 Laps | 176.3 | Retirement | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
View full results |