Immaculate Jorge Martin wins Thailand GP

“One of the best races of my life,” was how Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Ducati) described the 2023 Thai Grand Prix and, after losing the lead to Red Bull KTM rider Brad Binder with five laps to go, wrestling back the win on the penultimate lap was brave and skillful in equal measure. Because, as he pointed out, unlike previous races where he’d get to the front and streak away, he “didn’t have better pace than them”. Instead, he managed the race from the front and dug deep and took the risks when required to reduce the points advantage of reigning world champ Pecco Bagnaia (Team Lenovo Ducati).

He came into the Thai Grand Prix 27 points adrift of the factory Ducati man but after a perfect score of pole position, the sprint win, and the feature-length GP victory, he reduced that gap to 13 points with just three rounds left to run.

Bagnaia did well to limit the damage, admittedly with a fair bit of luck on his side in the 26-lap grand prix. After qualifying sixth, and finishing seventh in the Sprint, he didn’t make a lot of progress in the early stages of the grand prix, involved in a tussle for sixth place with Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda), as Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Ducati) and Binder took off after Martin.

There was plenty of passing early on, and not just between Bagnaia and Marquez. Both Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) pushed through on Bagnaia on lap two, before Binder snatched second from Marini on lap three, with Alex Marquez following the South African through for third place.

Bagnaia eventually managed to shake the persistence of Marc Marquez, who was now in another ding-dong battle for sixth, this time with Espargaro. And that was the first thing that played into Bagnaia’s hands, because as the two determined Spaniards swapped places and paintwork on the eighth lap, it meant the Italian could create a gap back to the chasing pack and bring his focus to the three men ahead, including his title rival leading the race, who was less than one second up the road as they started lap 11.

Unable to break away, Binder not only stayed with the Prima Pramac Ducati rider, but on many occasions looked like the quicker rider. Alex Marquez, the only rider to opt for the softer medium rear tyre, was in striking distance less than half a second behind, Bagnaia a further 0.3sec behind.   

With just 1.5 seconds covering the top five riders at half-race distance, Bagnaia’s second lucky break came a few corners later when Alex Marquez ahead of him lost the front and crashed, gifting the Italian third place and another three points.

Third in the championship Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Ducati) started to find his rhythm. After posting the fastest lap of the race on lap eight, he passed Marquez then Espargaro before finally relegating teammate Marini to fifth on the third attempt with a pass on the 18th lap.

With seven laps to go and nothing to lose, Binder began applying pressure on Martin and made his first attempt at a pass for the lead the next time around at Turn 9. Martin snatched it straight back. He tried again at Turn 3 on lap 21, but again, Martin was having none of it. The passing ahead, of course, brought Bagnaia right back into the mix and when Binder finally made his move stick at Turn 8 on lap 22, it looked as if it might be a battle for second place for the two title contenders as Binder pulled a couple of bike lengths ahead.

But Martin’s bravery and skill came into play on the penultimate lap when he forced his way back into the lead. And while Bagnaia got sucked into the slipstream down the straight, passing both Binder and Martin, he found himself on the outside of the pair heading into the first turn and back in third place to start the final lap.

There was more skill on show from Martin as he rode one of the most defensive laps of life to keep a determined Binder at bay behind behind him. But there was one last stroke of luck awaiting Bagnaia who would have seen Binder run wide at the exit of Turn 4 and onto the green paint – knowing he didn’t need to take any risks to snatch second and a further four points from Binder who, as per the rulebook, was demoted to third position at the end of the race.

Bezzecchi crossed the line in fourth place, 2sec behind Bagnaia and 2.3sec ahead of Espargaro. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Yamaha) got the better of Marquez in a late-race battle for sixth, while Marini, Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Ducati) and Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Ducati) rounded out the top 10. Aussie Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM) finished out of the points in 16th place, 17.6sec behind Martin.

Just 13 points separate Bagnaia (389) and Martin (376) and given Martin’s recent run of form, he’s got the courage to throw everything he needs to get the better of Bagnaia by the season finale in Valencia in four week’s time. Before that though, there’s Sepang and Qatar to play for, with the Malaysian Grand Prix kicking off on Friday 10 November.