Thai MotoGP Debrief

Buriram crucible of fire sees a new star born and a legend reignited

Triple World Champion Pecco Bagnaia (Lenovo Ducati) knew he had his work cut out to maintain his position of top dog at Ducati this year. But there’s a good chance even he didn’t recognise the challenge that lies ahead. Bagnaia may also have his hands full with both Marquez brother this year, with Alex also beating him in qualifying and both races.

Marc Marquez (Lenovo Ducati) demonstrated in Thailand it will take something truly extraordinary to stop him this year. As preseason testing suggesting, the eight-time World Champion was untouchable in the searing sun, romping to only his second ever full set – pole position, as well as wins in the Sprint and feature races – in his career. Worryingly for his rivals, Marc says the last time he felt so comfortable and strong on a motorcycle was back at the start of 2020 – though the events of that year serve as a reminder that nothing can be taken for granted in MotoGP.

The records spoke for themselves. After his comfortable Sprint success on Saturday, he led the MotoGP championship for the first time since November, 2019 – 1931 days before. His victory on Sunday was his first in a season curtain raiser since 2014, when he won each of the first ten races.

That it was achieved with the minimum of fuss was the most frightening aspect. When physical and mechanical elements were pushed to the extreme in temperatures that regularly surpassed 37 degrees (track temperatures neared 60 on Saturday), Marquez was barely out of shape, let alone close to the ragged edge.

A fairly mundane curtain raiser’s only jeopardy came when he had some front tyre dramas. Deeming the pressure of his front Michelin was dropping below legal levels, he decided he couldn’t risk riding out front and alone all race long. Waving brother Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) by, he elected to follow for the next 16 laps.

“I’m new in the team and still they need to know me,” Marquez explained. “Sometimes when I have the pace on Sunday, I’m changing the riding style and riding differently. I’m pushing less on the front because it’s where you can crash. On this track I was able to ride in two or three ways (and post) the same lap time. So maybe the pressure was not the correct one.” Michelin confirmed that, plus the fact track temperatures were eight degrees down compared to Saturday caued the issue.

But it was always clear he had the upper hand. After sitting behind, front tyre pressure peaking and difficult to manage, he retook the lead with just over two laps to go before delivering a devastating late salvo. Alex and Bagnaia were powerless to look on as he gapped them by 2.3s in the final circuits. How about that for ominous. “Marc was playing with us,” admitted Bagnaia after, who couldn’t hide his dejection.

Martin to ‘take time’ on injury return

Martin is facing several weeks on the sidelines after an operation to insert two screws into the radius bone, and one in the scaphoid. “Obviously I feel shit,” said Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola. “For sure he won’t race also in Argentina, the situation of the left hand is not good at the moment.”

And he was keen to stress the current number one won’t be rushed back. “He will only come back when he’s really fit. He’s a fighter, he is a gladiator. I’m sure he’s thinking about racing tomorrow. But also, it’s our time to tell him, ‘hang on, we don’t want to make any kind of mistake. Take your time.”

Martin’s absence in Thailand will be doubly painful when assessing the gains made by Aprilia over the offseason. Team-mate Marco Bezzecchi showed good speed on Friday, while Trackhouse runners Raul Fernandez and rookie Ai Ogura were also inside the top ten.

“We improved in the aerodynamic parts, in the character of the engine. We also worked a lot during the test on the traction control.” said Test Rider Lorenzo Savadori, who filled in for Martin in Thailand. Also, “some aero systems changed inside the bike,” to help with overheating, a massive issue of previous years.

Despite Martin and Fernandez missing considerable spells of preseason, the Noale factory is confident of its engine selection, which has been homologated and frozen for 2025 and ’26 this weekend. “We knew that the 25 engine was clearly better than 24, in terms of power delivery, so we’re quite confident with that,” said Rivola.

Marquez was the victor, but Ai Ogura was the star of the day. The reigning Moto2 champ stunned onlookers by qualifying fifth and then finishing fourth, pushing Pecco Bagnaia all race for the final spot on the podium.

Franco Morbidelli, who was behind in fifth, called Ogura “the MVP of the day” while Marquez laughed in surprise when informed of his pace.

The Japanese rider said his performance was “a big, big surprise” and explained his late braking prowess in a typically understated manner. “From Friday during the session, I went a little more, a little more, and well, in the qualifying I was gaining the lap time in the braking, then I did quite a good lap. So just improved a little bit.”

“(Being) smooth. I think that’s exactly what I learned from Pecco. I was just trying to copy what he was doing. Because to ride behind Pecco for 13 laps is really quality for me.”

Reigning champ Jorge Martin must have been looking on at Ogura’s performances with envy. If a rookie, in his first MotoGP race could take the new RS-GP to fifth, then what could last year’s champion do?

Honda on the up

Testing wasn’t an illusion. Honda confirmed its improvements over the winter thanks to a hugely encouraging weekend when three of its four riders showed top ten potential.

There was further proof of Honda is finally moving in the right direction in the form of results: Johann Zarco scored his best result (seventh) since he joined HRC at the close of 2023. And Joan Mir scored points in the Sprint for the very first time.

As Mir said during testing, the front end of the RC213V is much improved, its riders now able to brake and enter the turn with confidence. It’s a friendlier machine than before. And even if the engine is lacking outright top speed, and Mir was getting burnt by the extraordinary heat from his bike on Sunday, there was the sense Honda can compete with the three other manufacturers behind Ducati.

“We would’ve been very close to the top five with the pace that we were showing,” said Mir, who appears transformed from the rider who finished 22^nd overall in 2023 and 21^st the following year. “And this is something that last year I was not able to say to you in any race. It means that we’re in the way.

“At the moment we cannot compete with the Ducatis, but with all the rest we can. We showed in this race what we can do. And this is something that keeps me boosted for the next one.”

Luca Marini may have finished twelfth. But had he no incurred an issue at the start – caused by not activating his launch control – the Italian was sure a top six fight would’ve been possible. “Last year we were 1.2s from Ducati per lap – now we’re 0.8s, so it’s a good improvement.

It could be argued this is the first year that all Honda riders have spoken of a substantial step forward from one year to the next since 2018. Now to get back into the top six.

KTM on the slide

The positivity brought about by the news of 25^th February’s all-important creditors meeting in Austria, where they accepted KTM’s own restructuring plan out of administration, soon deflated in Thailand as Pedro Acosta crashed out of ninth, and Brad Binder struggled with excessive rear spinning and lack of front-end feel.

Asked about the crash, Acosta explained technicians have yet to find the correct balance for the ’25 RC16. “This year, it’s much easier to unload the rear. And then I unloaded the rear behind Bezzecchi, and I was a little bit wide, I was sliding too much, and then I lost the front.

When you unload the rear, suddenly you slide, and it comes back at the front.

“Quite a normal crash, but we need to understand understand many things of how this bike is working, because it’s something we’re missing.” All in all, the Austrian factory appears well behind the curve.

Boiling Point

Conditions on Saturday were among the most extreme in recent MotoGP history. Ambient temperatures stood at 100 degrees F for the MotoGP Sprint, while track temperatures were a punishing 134 degrees.

Riders across all classes spoke to struggling to deal with the heat from their bikes. And Fabio Di Giannantonio, returning after breaking his left collarbone at the Sepang test, was the standout case.

“I got burned on the hands, on the legs. Here on the neck. Completely burning. Like never before. Ducati is one of the coolest bikes. So it’s really, really strange. The bike was working well, everything was fine. But we have to understand why I am the only rider that I’m burning myself.”

It meant the Italian retired from the Sprint with three laps to go. “It was not possible to ride. Like on the straight, I was not in the fairing. I was with the open legs, open arms. And when I was braking, I was putting away both my feet. It was not for a limit braking or, you know the leg [dangle] on the brake.”

The Aussies

Jack Miller

Saturday showed promise. Miller qualified a fine sixth, four places ahead of Yamaha stalwart Quartararo. He then ran ahead of the Frenchman for seven laps of the Sprint before crashing out at Turn 8. He was back contesting the top six on Sunday before a bizzarre issue slowed his speed. “One of the clips unfortunately popped out and the whole fairing started deploying.  We made it to the end. I was suffering through that middle sector, especially the high-speed corners, but kept it together, stayed on track and bought home some points. That’s the main thing. It’s been a positive weekend all round. We just want to keep a solid building block to try and keep working from.”

Senna Agius

Having equalled his best qualifying performance on Saturday (4^th), Senna did the same on Sunday. “Today felt like this was the top moment so far in my career,” he said. “I got the start and had a good rhythm. I hadn’t seen these guys on track all weekend so I was learning as this track last year was by far my worst GP. But I was calm after a good winter test. I took the gamble on passing Vietti there because he was struggling so much. I wanted to get by as soon as possible to go after Manu. Sorry for him and I accepted the penalty. I got on with the job after the Long Lap but the tyres were dead. I’m proud of myself and my team.”

Joel Kelso

Coming through from eighth on the grid, Kelso was intent on putting his preseason work to use. The 21-year old spent months riding a BMW Superbike in a bid to improve rear tyre management. And he was doing that, sat in sixth when he crashed into Angel Piqueras (MSI KTM) at Turn 12. “It’s unfortunate. We were saving the tyre for the last lap, something we didn’t do last year. My plan was to pass Foggia and then another rider per lap. When I passed him I had nowhere to go in the last part of braking and hit Piqueras. It’s a shame because we could’ve fought for the podium. It’s a shame because I’ll get a penalty for the next one, which doesn’t make sense as it was my first ever contact.”

MotoGP Championship Standings

Moto2 Championship Standings

Moto3 Championship Standings