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Writer's pictureOwen Bradley

MotoGP Thailand - Martin Wins, 12 Points Behind Bagnaia in Final Month of the Championship

Written by Owen Bradley

Credit: MotoGP Videopass


MotoGP returned to Thailand once again, a circuit which has delivered many memorable moments over the years, since we first came to the circuit in 2018.


1st Jorge Martin, Pramac Ducati

2nd Francesco Bagnaia, Lenovo Factory Ducati

3rd Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM


4th Marco Bezzecchi, VR46 Ducati

5th Fabio Quartararo, Monster Yamaha

6th Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda

7th Luca Marini, VR46 Ducati

8th Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing - PENALTY from 5th, drops to 8th

9th F. Di Giannantonio, Gresini Ducati

10th Johann Zarco, Pramac Ducati

11th Franco Morbidelli, Monster Yamaha

12th Joan Mir, Repsol Honda 13th Enea Bastianini, Factory Lenovo Ducati 14th Takaaki Nakagami, LCR Honda 15th Raul Fernandez, Aprilia

16th Jack Miller, Red Bull KTM

17th Augusto Fernandez, Tech3 GASGAS KTM

18th Pol Espargaro, Tech3 GASGAS KTM

19th Maverick Vinales, Aprilia Racing

20th Alex Marquez, Gresini Ducati

21st Miguel Oliveira, Aprilia


Grand Prix


Credit: MotoGP Social Media


An absolute barn-storming race this weekend, which sees Jorge Martin deliver a crucial blow to the World Championship against Francesco Bagnaia.


The race started in dominant fashion for Martin, who led over 20 laps of the race before anybody even managed to get close to him. However, Brad Binder on the Red Bull KTM machine, was absolutely flying throughout the race, managing to catch right up and eventually make a move on Martin, who eventually fought back against Binder.


The VR46 Ducati boys of Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi would have a race that summarised their season, close to the front leading pack, far away from those behind but stuck in a no man's land, hoping for the leaders to make a mistake. Bezzecchi still nursing an injury, he would manage to close in on the Top 3, by nearly two seconds within three laps!


However the battle was on between Martin, Binder and Bagnaia. Bagnaia would attempt to do a double overtake, around the outside at the final corner, the tight right hander. Unfortunately the move never quite paid off, and as Binder began hounding Martin in the final sector of the final lap, Martin managed to defend the inside line, and the short run to the Start/Finish line would see him just about hold on to victory.

Credit: Motorsport Images


It was an absolutely brilliant race, but Binder would be demoted to 3rd place after exceeding track limits on the final lap, dropping him behind Francesco Bagnaia.


12 points between Martin and Bagnaia, it's Pramac Ducati the Customer team, up against the Factory Ducati. It's Italy vs Spain with just a handful of races remaining. Martin has drastically outperformed Bagnaia in the Sprint races, where Bagnaia has managed to hold the gap in the main Grands Prix. One thing is clear though, the gloves are well and truly off in this championship battle.


But what did you think of the Thai GP? let us know in the comments below!



1 comment

1 Comment


Guest
Oct 29, 2023

Another great race and the makings of a really exciting end to this year, I wonder if Bagnaia's experience and factory support will come to bear or whether Martin's desire for it and probable underdog status will see him grab the title. For sure it's probably going to be a case of who makes least errors as I think they both probably have the pace and machinery go win. Rather than sit on the fence I will reconfirm my pre-season punt, I reckon Martin gets the nod.

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