The Repsol Honda rider further increased his dominance by capturing another historic victory to add to his record.
Marc Márquez will remain the first rider in MotoGP history to have won the very first Thai Grand Prix, and this, moreover, after a splendid fight with Andrea Dovizioso.
It is true that the Spanish driver started as the big favorite after the incredible pole position he had won yesterday. However, very quickly, he was passed by Valentino Rossi then by Dovizioso and remained third for a long time. He didn't feel that comfortable. And then in the last laps, he came back into contact and tried numerous times to pass the Ducati rider, without success. We finally had to wait until the last corner of the last lap to see him win after a magnificent duel.
After the pole position and the lap record, Márquez secured the 68th victory of his career, equaling Jorge Lorenzo in terms of victories in all categories: “I'm very, very happy because it's the first time I beat Dovi like this. We were really on the same level, and my strategy was to try to attack in order to create a gap and prevent him from coming back on the last lap. But Dovi had very good pace and I was struggling with my front tire, so I couldn't do it. Instead I just tried to manage the tires and stay with him. To be honest, I wasn't sure about the outcome of the race going into the last lap because I've lost a lot of finish line duels to him in the past. But this time we reversed the roles (I used Dovi's style and Dovi used Márquez's style!) and it worked to overtake him in the last corner. It was great to ride in front of all the Thai fans who support all the drivers equally, really enjoy this sport and made me feel good throughout the weekend. I really thank them. Now our first title option will come to Japan and this is the most important race for Honda as it is their only home Grand Prix. We will obviously give the best of ourselves, but if that is not possible, the objective remains to win the title at the appropriate time. »
Thai Grand Prix, Buriram, MotoGP J.3: Ranking.
1 93 Marc MARQUEZ Honda 39'55.722
2 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati +0.115
3 25 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha +0.270
4 46 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha +1.564
5 5 Johann ZARCO Yamaha +2.747
6 42 Alex RINS Suzuki +3.023
7 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda +6.520
8 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA Ducati +6.691
9 9 Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati +9.944
10 43 Jack MILLER Ducati +11.077
11 29 Andrea IANNONE Suzuki +15.488
12 55 Hafizh SYAHRIN Yamaha +17.691
13 41 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia +21.413
14 21 Franco MORBIDELLI Honda +22.802
15 38 Bradley SMITH KTM +23.628
16 45 Scott REDDING Aprilia +23.804
17 17 Karel ABRAHAM Ducati +32.507
18 10 Xavier SIMEON Ducati +37.216
19 81 Jordi TORRES Ducati +39.204
20 12 Thomas LUTHI Honda +39.421
21 44 Pol ESPARGARO KTM +53.388
22 30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 2 Laps
Not Classified
26 Dani PEDROSA Honda 8 Laps
