MotoGP

Another big hint Marquez is right back on the MotoGP pace

by Matt Beer
4 min read

Marc Marquez was able to play down the significance of his Motegi MotoGP pole position a week ago because it came in wet conditions.

But topping opening practice for the Thai Grand Prix at Buriram in a straight fight on a dry track was another emphatic sign that Honda’s talisman is making a very competitive return from what he hopes will be the final surgery in his two-year fitness battle.

Marquez actually kicked off his weekend with a minor crash, running wide onto the painted area beyond the kerb – which was still damp from earlier rain – at the long Turn 3 right-hander and sliding to the ground.

Swiftly back upright, Marquez then grabbed the top spot with a 1m30.523s early in the late charge of qualifying-style laps with almost everyone using medium front tyres and soft rears.

That lap deposed Yamaha’s championship leader Fabio Quartararo, who improved again in response but was 0.032 seconds shy of Marquez.

The Buriram circuit was the scene of perhaps the greatest of their 2019 duels during Quartararo’s spectacular rookie season, with Marquez only beating him to the race win with a last-lap move.

With rain a possibility throughout the weekend, teams took the end of practice one very seriously as a chance to potentially book Q2 spots if the next two sessions are wet.

If that’s the case, title contender Aleix Espargaro is going to have to tackle Q1.

He was only 16th fastest as Aprilia started badly, with Maverick Vinales a place further back on its second bike.

But both were only six tenths of the pace in a remarkably close session in which the top four were within 0.098s and the top 10 covered by 0.3s.

Jack Miller was top Ducati in third, thrusting himself right up the order with his last lap.

His title-chasing team-mate Pecco Bagnaia was sixth, having spent the final part of the session seemingly trying to get a tow from VR46 rider Luca Marini, who was fourth quickest.

Alex Rins topped part of the session for Suzuki early on, and looked like he might beat Marquez to first place on his last run before a slower final sector left him fifth.

Seventh-fastest Miguel Oliveira was the only rider other than Marquez to crash, losing his KTM at the last corner early on.

Quartararo’s struggling Yamaha team-mate Franco Morbidelli made an encouraging start in eighth place.

Yamaha actually looked set for the rare treat of having three bikes in the top 10 after Cal Crutchlow surged to fifth late on for RNF, though he ended up edged back to 11th behind Enea Bastianini and Jorge Martin’s Ducatis.

Danilo Petrucci made his MotoGP return as Joan Mir’s Suzuki stand-in by taking 21st, 2.2s off the pace and ahead of RNF Yamaha rider Darryn Binder and LCR Honda’s Taka Nakagami replacement Tetsuta Nagashima.

Practice 1 Results

Pos Name Team Bike Gap Next Gap Leader Best Time
1 Marc Marquez Repsol Honda Team Honda 1m30.523s
2 Fabio Quartararo Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +0.032s +0.032s 1m30.555s
3 Jack Miller Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati +0.033s +0.065s 1m30.588s
4 Luca Marini Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati +0.033s +0.098s 1m30.621s
5 Alex Rins Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki +0.02s +0.118s 1m30.641s
6 Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati +0.105s +0.223s 1m30.746s
7 Miguel Oliveira Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.01s +0.233s 1m30.756s
8 Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +0.009s +0.242s 1m30.765s
9 Enea Bastianini Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati +0.025s +0.267s 1m30.79s
10 Jorge Martin Pramac Racing Ducati +0.052s +0.319s 1m30.842s
11 Cal Crutchlow WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Yamaha +0.039s +0.358s 1m30.881s
12 Johann Zarco Pramac Racing Ducati +0.104s +0.462s 1m30.985s
13 Fabio Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati +0.019s +0.481s 1m31.004s
14 Pol Espargaró Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.003s +0.484s 1m31.007s
15 Brad Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.052s +0.536s 1m31.059s
16 Aleix Espargaró Aprilia Racing Aprilia +0.028s +0.564s 1m31.087s
17 Maverick Viñales Aprilia Racing Aprilia +0.073s +0.637s 1m31.16s
18 Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati +0.07s +0.707s 1m31.23s
19 Remy Gardner Tech3 KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.095s +0.802s 1m31.325s
20 Raul Fernandez Tech3 KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.226s +1.028s 1m31.551s
21 Alex Marquez LCR Honda Castrol Honda +0.104s +1.132s 1m31.655s
22 Danilo Petrucci Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki +1.051s +2.183s 1m32.706s
23 Darryn Binder WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Yamaha +0.243s +2.426s 1m32.949s
24 Tetsuta Nagashima LCR Honda IDEMITSU Honda +0.124s +2.55s 1m33.073s
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • More Networks