A slide in the last corner is all that separated Marc Marquez from the first and the third rows of the grid as he and Espargaro battled it out at a blazing Buriram.

Relentless sun replaced the constant Thai rain at the Chang International Circuit, making for an extremely physically demanding day of action on Saturday.

A small moment in the last corner during Free Practice 3 saw Marquez miss a spot in the combined top ten and a direct ticket to Q2 by only 0.007s. The eight-time World Champion dug deep in Q1 to find the lap time exactly when it was needed to advance through. Moving from FP4 to Q1 to Q2 saw Marquez’s team work in perfect unison to change the setup of the Honda RC213V for the evolving conditions. Marquez calmly waited for the perfect moment in Q2 and strung together a lap which looked set to challenge for the front row but a near crash at the final corner ended his chances.

The #93 remains optimistic about the work done on Saturday, feeling more competitive and able to ride in a more natural way as his condition continues to improve. Marquez will line up in the middle of the third row for Sunday’s race, a Grand Prix he has twice claimed victory at.

Pol Espargaro endured a frustrating and disappointing day in Thailand, unable to make the improvements he needed to challenge for a Q2 spot. Rear grip continues to be the area holding back the #44. When the track has grip, as shown during testing and in Qatar, Espargaro and the Honda are able to consistently run inside the top five. He and the team will continue to do all that is possible to improve their on-track performance.

In Moto2, Honda Team Asia’s Somkiat Chantra made history to become the first Thai rider to start from pole position. The home hero will be one to watch tomorrow in the build-up to the MotoGP race.

Racing around the Chang International Circuit’s 4.6 kilometres is set to begin at 15:00 local Time. Running over 26 laps, the Thai Grand Prix is set to be a thrilling race no matter the conditions as the Repsol Honda Team aim to hunt down their rivals ahead.

Marc Marquez

Eighth 1'30.133

“The final result is a bit less than we were aiming for today, but looking at the positives – I was able to start riding how I want and I was able to really push the Honda. In Qualifying I had a big moment which ended our best lap, but we know what is going on and how we can fix it. Also in Free Practice 3 at the last corner I had a moment which meant we went to Q1, so it was a bit of a knock on. But we keep getting experience and testing ourselves more and more. Tomorrow’s race will be a bit interesting, we need a good start to make up some positions because our pace is good but overtaking can be tricky.”

Pol Espargaro

19th 1'30.641

“Well, there’s not much to say about today. We are having our issues and we are working to solve them. It’s clear it hasn’t been an easy weekend but we are not going to give up, I will keep on trying every time I get on the bike. It will be a very long race tomorrow if it’s wet or dry so a lot is possible. We will see what happens when the lights go out.”

MotoGP 2022
Qualifying Round 17   Thailand

Thai Grand Prix - Qualifying Results

Dry
Humidity
72%
Track Temp
43°C
Air Temp
30°C
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Bezzecchi Marco 73 ITA Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati 1'29.671
2 Martin Jorge 89 SPA Pramac Racing Ducati 0.021
3 Bagnaia Francesco 62 ITA Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 0.104
4 Quartararo Fabio 20 FRA Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 0.238
5 Zarco Johann 5 FRA Pramac Racing Ducati 0.292
6 Bastianini Enea 23 ITA Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati 0.317
7 Miller Jack 43 AUS Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 0.435
8 Marquez Marc 93 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 0.462
9 Marini Luca 10 ITA Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati 0.543
10 Rins Alex 42 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 0.666
11 Oliveira Miguel 88 POR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 0.814
12 Binder Brad 33 RSA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 0.871
13 Espargaro Aleix 41 SPA Aprilia Racing Aprilia 0.164 Q1
14 Morbidelli Franco 21 ITA Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 0.490
15 Crutchlow Cal 35 GBR WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Yamaha 0.504
16 Fernandez Raul SPA 0.528
17 Vinales Maverick 12 SPA Aprilia Racing Aprilia 0.540
18 Gardner Remy AUS 0.564
19 Espargaro Pol 44 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 0.603
20 Marquez Alex 73 SPA LCR Honda Honda 0.654
21 Di Giannantonio Fabio 49 ITA Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati 0.756
22 Nagashima Tetsuta 45 JPN LCR Honda Honda 1.293
23 Binder Darryn 40 RSA WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Yamaha 1.318
24 Petrucci Danilo 9 ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 1.566
Location Information

Designed by German architect Herman Tilke, the Buriram International Circuit opened in 2014 and will see MotoGP™ making its debut this season. Located around 410km northeast from the country’s capital of Bangkok, the town of Buriram in the Buriram province literally translates into “city of happiness”, and its typically hot… read more.

Length 4.6 km / 2.83 miles
Width 12 metres / 39.37 ft.
Left corners 5
Right corners 7
Longest straight 1 km / 3280.84 ft.
Constructed 2014
Modified /

444 Moo 15 Buriram Chang Wat Buri Ram 31000, Thailand - View in Google Maps

bric.co.th

Records

Pole Position Record 1m28.700s (184.8 Km/h) Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati, 2024)
Race Lap Record 1m30.896s (180.3 Km/h) Jorge Martin (Ducati, 2023)
2024 Sprint Winner Enea Bastianini (Ducati)
2024 Winner Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati)