Factory Ducati rider Marc Marquez claimed a dominant lights-to-flag victory in the sprint race for the Thailand Grand Prix on Saturday, as team-mate Francesco Bagnaia held off Ai Ogura to finish third.
Having claimed pole pole position by 0.146s in qualifying, Marquez was also untouchable in the half-distance race at Buriram, leading every lap en route to a 1.18s victory over brother Alex Marquez.
At the start of the race, the six-time MotoGP champion pulled away cleanly from pole position, while Alex Marquez briefly dropped behind a fast-charging Francesco Bagnaia before retaking second place.
Within just two laps, the elder Marquez’s lead was up to 0.6s and by lap 7 he had pulled out an advantage of 1.2s.
Although Alex Marquez managed to bring the gap under one second over the next few tours, the factory Ducati rider was able to streak clear again to claim an unchallenged victory in the opening sprint of 2025.
Gresini’s Alex Marquez still secured a strong second place, proving his testing pace was no fluke, while Bagnaia resisted race-long pressure from Trackhouse’s debutant Ai Ogura to claim the final spot on the podium.
VR46’s Franco Morbidelli had a largely boring race en route to fifth place, while KTM’s Pedro Acosta inherited sixth after Pramac’s Jack Miller crashed out at Turn 8 with a handful of laps to run.
Meanwhile, Fabio Quartararo recovered from a slow start to take seventh for Yamaha, with Brad Binder finishing eighth coming out worse in an early battle with team-mate Acosta.
The final points-paying position went to factory Honda rider Joan Mir, who edged out the LCR-run RC213V of Johann Zarco in the final laps of the sprint.
Factory Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi made a shocking getaway that dropped him to the lower reaches of the top 20, but a charging drive saw him recover to take 12th.
MotoGP Thailand GP – Sprint race results:
Photos from Thailand GP – Saturday
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