Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Autosport
Autosport
Sport

Marquez sets scintillating pace in Thailand to end MotoGP testing on top

Six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez set the fastest time on the final day of pre-season testing at Buriram, leading another 1-2 finish for Ducati.

Having already established himself as the pacesetter on Wednesday, Marquez found another three tenths overnight to lower the benchmark to 1m28.855s on the factory Ducati.

This put him just one-and-a-half tenths down on the outright lap record at Buriram, set by Francesco Bagnaia during qualifying for last year’s Thai Grand Prix.

The 31-year-old set his quickest time just two hours into the start of the day’s running before switching to longer runs in the afternoon, averaging a time of 1m30.361s over a 23-lap race simulation.

Meanwhile, Gresini’s Alex Marquez carried over his strong form in pre-season testing on Thursday, posting a best time of 1m29.034s to finish 0.179s behind his elder brother in second.

Marco Bezzecchi once again carried the torch for Aprilia in the absence of reigning champion Jorge Martin, jumping up to third in the final 30 minutes of the session.

Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing (Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images)

Bezzecchi's late effort demoted KTM’s star rider Pedro Acosta to fourth, although the two were separated by just over half a tenth.

Acosta was the first rider to beat Marquez’s lap time from Wednesday as the final day of testing began, but he was shuffled down to fourth after failing to improve on his initial 1m29.133s flier.

Double champion Bagnaia ended up a solid fifth for Ducati, half a second behind his team-mate Marquez, while Joan Mir propelled Honda to sixth place with a time of 1m29.399s.

The seventh position went to VR46’s Franco Morbidelli, another standout performer of pre-season testing, while Fabio Quartararo seemingly got on top of the issues that plagued him on Wednesday to put Yamaha in eighth.

Tech3’s Maverick Vinales, Pramac rider Jack Miller and Trackhouse rookie Ai Ogura all lapped within half a tenth of Quartararo, ending up ninth, 10th and 11th respectively.

It made reigning Moto2 champion Ogura the fastest of the three rookies at Buriram, with Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini) and Somkiat Chantra (LCR) in 18th and 20th respectively.

MotoGP Thailand pre-season test results - Day 2

Cla Rider Bike Time Delay  Laps 
Marc Márquez Ducati 1'28.855   39
Álex Márquez Ducati 1'29.034 0.179 36
Pedro Acosta KTM 1'29.133 0.278 31
Marco Bezzecchi Aprilia 1'29.244 0.389 34
F.Bagnaia Ducati 1'29.378 0.523 38
F.Morbidelli Ducati 1'29.454 0.599 37
Ai Ogura Aprilia 1'29.636 0.781 38
Joan Mir Honda 1'29.730 0.875 35
Brad Binder KTM 1'29.732 0.877 42
10  Fabio Quartararo Yamaha 1'29.818 0.963 27
11  Jack Miller Yamaha 1'29.830 0.975 31
12  Johann Zarco Honda 1'29.882 1.027 41
13  Luca Marini Honda 1'29.884 1.029 35
14  Raúl Fernández Aprilia 1'30.013 1.158 33
15  Alex Rins Yamaha 1'30.218 1.363 38
16  Maverick Viñales KTM 1'30.258 1.403 48
17  Somkiat Chantra Honda 1'30.465 1.610 41
18  Enea Bastianini KTM 1'30.516 1.661 31
19  Miguel Oliveira Yamaha 1'30.565 1.710 40
20  Fermín Aldeguer Ducati 1'30.597 1.742 28
21  Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia 1'31.527 2.672 36
In this article
Rachit Thukral
MotoGP
Be the first to know and subscribe for real-time news email updates on these topics
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.