Honda’s Marc Marquez not only won the Thai GP but also secured the 2019 MotoGP title after beating Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Fabio Quaratararo on the last lap.
Pole-sitter and Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Fabio Quartararo had a good start to MotoGP Thai GP at Chang International Circuit as he led Honda’s Marc Marquez and Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales. The latter briefly had second but Marquez managed to get back.
At the same time, Marquez briefly took the race lead from Quartararo but went wide which allowed the Frenchman to get back. His teammate Franco Morbidelli lost fourth to Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso as Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi climbed up to sixth.
It was nightmare for Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller after stalling on the grid. The Australian was forced to start from the pitlane. Meanwhile, behind Rossi, it was the two Suzuki riders with Joan Mir heading Alex Rins in seventh and eighth respectively.
Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci had a bad start to drop to ninth with Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro a good 10th from Tech 3 Yamaha’s Miguel Oliveira, LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami, KTM’s Pol Espargaro, LCR’s Cal Crutchlow and Aprilia’s Andrea Iannone in the Top 15.
The fight at the front steadied on with Quartararo keeping Marquez at bay as Rossi dropped back to eighth after losing out to the Suzuki riders. It was Rins on the charge as he moved up to fifth after passing Mir, Rossi and Morbidelli, in the chase of Dovizioso.
A crash for KTM’s Mika Kallio at Turn 8 halted his run, while Aprilia’s Espargaro was forced to retire from a points scoring position. There was a big move outside the Top 10 with Pramac’s Francesco Bagnaia climbing up to 11th after an edgy start.
It got tasty towards the end with Marquez piling immense pressure on Quartararo for not only the race lead but also the championship. The Spaniard made it stick on the final lap and despite a late lunge from Quartararo, it wasn’t enough.
Not only Marquez won the Thai GP but also secured the 2019 MotoGP championship with four rounds to spare. It is his sixth MotoGP title and eighth world championship in 12 years of competing in 125cc, Moto2 and MotoGP championships.
Quartararo had to settle for second as his wait for his first win continues as Yamaha’s Vinales rounded out the podium from Ducati’s Dovizioso, whose mathematical title contendership for 2019 officially ended with Marquez’s victory.
Rins was fifth with Morbidelli sixth as Mir hung on to seventh with Rossi close behind. Petrucci was a distant ninth from Nakagami, who had Bagnaia on his tail. LCR’s Crutchlow was 12th with Espargaro in 13th as Miller and Iannone scored the points.
After looking to score points early in the race, Oliveira lost out to be 16th but only 0.098s behind Iannone. Avintia Ducati’s Tito Rabat was 17th with Honda’s Jorge Lorenzo 18th and Tech 3’s Hafizh Syahrin 19th. DNF: Espargaro, Kallio.
