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MotoGP Thailand GP: Martin leads Vinales in FP1, Bagnaia only 10th

Maverick Vinales and Alex Marquez traded the fastest time in the opening quarter of the session, the Gresini rider setting the early pace on a 1m32.030s before Vinales moved the goalposts with a time of 1m31.657s.

Marquez struck back with a 1m31.486s just after the 15 minute mark, before Vinales went 0.002s quicker to snatch the top spot again.

The 28-year-old’s time of 1m31.484s remained unbeaten until the final 10 minutes of the session, when his Aprilia team-mate Espargaro improved to a 1m31.171s to lead the field by three tenths of a second.

However, Aprilia wouldn’t end the session on top, after Martin broke the 1m31s barrier with just five minutes left on the clock to steal the timelight for Pramac

Martin’s lap of 1m30.520s put him 0.238s at the front, after Vinales made a late improvement to 1m30.758s in an unsuccessful bid to reclaim the top spot.

Pol Espargaro jumped to third with an impressive 1m31.012s effort on his Tech3 KTM, leaving his brother Aleix fourth in the final order.

Fifth place went to Franco Morbidelli on the fastest of the two Yamahas, while Augusto Fernandez backed up the pace of his more experienced team-mate Espargaro with a solid sixth-place finish.

Fabio di Giannantonio, who has been linked with a move to Repsol Honda in 2024, was seventh for Gresini with a time identical to RNF Aprilia rider Raul Fernandez.

Di Giannantonio’s team-mate Marquez failed to improve on his early-session flier and slipped to ninth in the final order, 0.966s in arrears of Martin.

The top 10 was completed by Bagnaia, who arrived in Thailand 29 points ahead of his chief championship rival Martin.

Despite finding some more time in the final five minutes of practice, Bagnaia was only the fourth-quickest Ducati in the session as he ended up 0.987s down on Martin with a best effort of 1m31.507s.

He was followed by the LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami on the top Honda and the second Yamaha of 2021 champion Fabio Quartararo.

The factory KTM team had a low key session as both Jack Miller and Brad Binder finished over a second down in 13th and 14th respectively, while VR46 duo Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi were also off the pace in 15th and 16th places.

Marc Marquez was a distant 18th on the factory Honda, two places ahead of team-mate Joan Mir.

No crashes were recorded during 15 minutes of practice, although a number of rider had small moments exiting corners.

MotoGP Thailand GP - FP1 results:

 
 
         
Driver Info
 
 
 
   
Cla Rider # Bike Laps Time Interval km/h Speed Trap
1 Spain J. Martin Pramac Racing 89 Ducati 22

1'30.520

  181.113  
2 Spain M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team 12 Aprilia 20

+0.238

1'30.758

0.238 180.638  
3 Spain P. Espargaro Tech 3 44 KTM 18

+0.492

1'31.012

0.254 180.134  
4 Spain A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team 41 Aprilia 19

+0.651

1'31.171

0.159 179.820  
5 Italy F. Morbidelli Yamaha Factory Racing 21 Yamaha 22

+0.750

1'31.270

0.099 179.625  
6 Spain A. Fernandez Tech 3 37 KTM 21

+0.823

1'31.343

0.073 179.481  
7 Italy F. Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing 49 Ducati 19

+0.962

1'31.482

0.139 179.209  
8 Spain R. Fernández RNF Racing 25 Aprilia 20

+0.962

1'31.482

0.000 179.209  
9 Spain A. Marquez Gresini Racing 73 Ducati 19

+0.966

1'31.486

0.004 179.201  
10 Italy F. Bagnaia Ducati Team 1 Ducati 21

+0.987

1'31.507

0.021 179.160  
11 Japan T. Nakagami Team LCR 30 Honda 22

+1.079

1'31.599

0.092 178.980  
12 France F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing 20 Yamaha 20

+1.130

1'31.650

0.051 178.880  
13 Australia J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 43 KTM 20

+1.162

1'31.682

0.032 178.818  
14 South Africa B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 33 KTM 21

+1.235

1'31.755

0.073 178.675  
15 Italy L. Marini Team VR46 10 Ducati 22

+1.269

1'31.789

0.034 178.609  
16 Italy M. Bezzecchi Team VR46 72 Ducati 19

+1.304

1'31.824

0.035 178.541  
17 Italy E. Bastianini Ducati Team 23 Ducati 20

+1.333

1'31.853

0.029 178.485  
18 Spain M. Marquez Repsol Honda Team 93 Honda 21

+1.337

1'31.857

0.004 178.477  
19 France J. Zarco Pramac Racing 5 Ducati 20

+1.393

1'31.913

0.056 178.368  
20 Spain J. Mir Repsol Honda Team 36 Honda 21

+1.477

1'31.997

0.084 178.205  
21 Portugal M. Oliveira RNF Racing 88 Aprilia 18

+1.601

1'32.121

0.124 177.965  


 
 

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