RACE REPORT | MotoGP Thailand 2024

Reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia secured a crucial win in a rainy Thailand MotoGP Grand Prix, closing the title gap to just 17 points behind Jorge Martín with two races left.

Early in the race, Martín jumped ahead of the Ducati riders and took the lead, despite a slight mistake at the hairpin that gave Bagnaia a brief chance. However, Martín made a bigger error on lap 5, running wide at the hairpin, allowing Bagnaia and Marc Marquez to overtake him. From that point, Bagnaia held the lead until the finish.

Drama struck on lap 13 as Marquez, who was running second, lost control and crashed at Turn 8, forcing him to rejoin at the back. He had tried to challenge Bagnaia earlier but faced more trouble with a penalty for bumping Joan Mir.

Martín’s race had its own challenges; he narrowly avoided a crash when Marquez went down but kept control to secure second place. Jack Miller briefly held third for KTM until rookie Pedro Acosta passed him in the last laps, celebrating his first podium in his debut wet MotoGP race.

Fabio di Giannantonio from VR46 also passed Miller, dropping him to fifth place.

Brad Binder finished sixth on his KTM, showing solid form in the difficult conditions. Maverick Viñales came seventh on his Aprilia, crossing the line 8.5 seconds behind the winner.

Johann Zarco took eighth place on his Honda, while Aleix Espargaró finished ninth. Alex Marquez rounded out the top 10 for Ducati.

Luca Marini came in 11th on his Honda, managing the wet track well and finishing just ahead of Marc Marquez, who ended up in 12th. Marquez’s crash and penalty complicated his race, but he kept his third position in the championship standings since Enea Bastianini, his closest rival, only finished 14th. 

The next race is scheduled for 3 November in Malaysia.

Race results: