Francesco Bagnaia has diminished Jorge Martin’s lead within the 2024 MotoGP World Championship standings after mastering moist situations to win the Thailand Grand Prix.
The Italian capitalised on an error by Pramac rider Martin within the early phases to take the lead and assume management, earlier than happening to take the flag nearly three seconds away from his title rival.
It permits Bagnaia to recuperate floor conceded to Martin in Saturday’s dash race with the margin between the Ducati pair diminished to 17 factors with two rounds of the season remaining.
As flurries of rain threatened to throw a curveball into what’s already a finely poised 2024 MotoGP title battle, Martin held the benefit early on after grabbing the lead at flip one off the road from polesitter Bagnaia.
Happening to drag a second away from the Italian, a mistake by Martin coming into the hairpin on lap 5 would enable each Bagnaia and Marc Marquez to slide previous.
With additional leery moments within the difficult situations stymying Martin’s makes an attempt at recovering misplaced floor on his Ducati counterparts forward, Bagnaia and Marquez moved clear of their battle for the lead.
Nonetheless, when Marquez’s problem ended on lap 14 with an off at flip 9, manufacturing unit Ducati rider Bagnaia was launched into a cushty benefit he’d shield to the chequered flag for his ninth victory of the 2024 MotoGP season.
In second, Martin benefitted from Marquez’s exit to restrict the injury to his championship benefit with simply two rounds and 4 races remaining,
Behind Martin, countryman Tech3 GasGas’s Pedro Acosta got here on robust within the closing phases following earlier off-track moments to recuperate to a fifth podium of the season in third, whereas VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio introduced his 2024 MotoGP marketing campaign to an in depth in fourth forward of the surgical procedure that may sideline him from the remaining two occasions.
Jack Miller ran as excessive as third as he revelled within the slippery situations earlier than slipping again to fifth on the flag, forward of manufacturing unit KTM team-mate Brad Binder in sixth.
Maverick Vinales flew the flag for Aprilia in seventh place, forward of high Honda rider Johann Zarco in eighth and Aleix Espargaro on the second of the manufacturing unit Aprilias in ninth.
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Workforce
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Photos
Regardless of falling on the sighting lap within the worst of the climate situations, Alex Marquez made it again to finish the highest ten, main brother and team-mate Marc in eleventh after the six-time MotoGP World Champion remounted for a factors’ end.
Marquez was given a one-place penalty for “irresponsible using” whereas battling with former team-mate Joan Mir, provisionally leaving him twelfth, however video proof later confirmed he had dropped a spot on monitor within the closing phases of the race.
Like Marquez, manufacturing unit Ducati rider Enea Bastianini was additionally capable of rejoin the race after crashing, ending 14th behind Honda’s Luca Marini and LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami. The last level went to a different Honda rider Mir.
Elsewhere, Marco Bezzecchi was one other to crash out, the Italian coming down early on for his third DNF of the 12 months, whereas each Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins fell to depart Yamaha pointless.
