08:31
"A perfect Saturday" for Marc Marquez, he tells Jack Appleyard - hard to argue after a pole position and Sprint victory. Hard to see him being stopped tomorrow over 26 laps.
Marc Marquez, 2025 MotoGP Thai Grand Prix. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
2025 Thai MotoGP, Buriram: Sprint LIVE UPDATES
Live updates from the Sprint at the season-opening 2025 Thai MotoGP round at Buriram.
Day two of the season-opening Thai MotoGP at Buriram kicks off with final practice at 10:10am, swiftly followed by the first qualifying sessions of the year.
Alex Marquez snatched the top spot in Friday practice ahead of brother Marc, whose factory Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia was surprisingly left in Q1 after losing a lap due to incorrectly displayed yellow flags then being held up by Franco Morbidelli.
Morbidelli received a three place grid penalty for obstructing Bagnaia, with home rookie Somkiat Chantra suffering the same sanction for holding up Alex Marquez.
Saturday’s MotoGP track activities conclude with the 13-lap Sprint race, starting at 3pm local time, when temperatures are predicted to reach a scorching 37 degrees.
Sprint coverage by Alex Whitworth.
01 Mar 2025
08:30
Alex Marquez tells Jack Appleyard in his podium interview that second was his target before the Sprint, and that he knew winning would be difficult when he ended the first lap behind M. Marquez.
08:29
Bagnaia blames his relative lack of pace on the same feeling in the Sprint that he had last year and a lack of confidence on corner entry. Says he backed off a bit when he realised chasing the Marquez brothers was too risky.
08:24
The best KTM was Pedro Acosta in 6th place, but he never had the pace of the five in front of him.
Fabio Quartararo was the best Yamaha in 7th, and Joan Mir scored a point in ninth for Honda.
08:22
Marc Marquez wins Thai Sprint
It's victory on debut for Marc Marquez on the factory Ducati, and a second ever Sprint win here in Thailand.
Alex Marquez takes second, ahead of Bagnaia who rounds out the podium. Ogura takes a solid fourth, and Morbidelli rounds out the top-five.
08:20
Lap 12/13
Onto the final lap now and M. Marquez now leads by over 1.5s from A. Marquez. Two seconds back then to Bagnaia, who is maintaining a gap of around 0.8s to Ogura, who has been exceptional in this.
08:19
Di Giannantonio out
Fabio Di Giannantonio has slowed and looks to be retiring. He was looking down at the dashboard so perhaps a mechanical for the Italian.
08:17
Lap 10/13
Spreading out at the front properly now. Over a second between 1-2-3-4 now, and yet another all-Ducati podium looks fairly nailed on at this point. Still four to go, though.
08:16
Lap 9/13
Better lap for A. Marquez there, got the gap to M. Marquez back to 1.1s, and he was marginally faster than Bagnaia.
08:14
Lap 8/13
Pace starting to drop for everyone and mostly for Ogura, who had a big rear slide entering turn one that lap and has dropped over 0.5s now behind Bagnaia, who was almost 0.2s faster than A. Marquez - but the gap between them is still over 1s.
08:13
Miller out
Jack Miller has crashed out at turn eight. He's up and okay.
08:11
Lap 6/13
M. Marquez's lead up to one second now. A. Marquez, Bagnaia, and Ogura all 30.2 that lap.
08:10
Lap 5/13
Bagnaia's pace has definitely improved and it's another 1:30.2 on that lap for him, but the two Marquez brothers are 30.0. Ogura still matching Bagnaia's pace and definitely has a shot at the podium here!
08:08
Lap 4/13
Better lap for Bagnaia there, all the top three did low-1:30s, but he's now 2s off the lead and 1.2s behind A. Marquez. Ogura still there behind him, too.
08:07
Lap 4/13
Another 0.3s dropped by Bagnaia to Alex Marquez that lap. The gap between the front two now up to 0.6, too.
08:04
Lap 1/13
M. Marquez already checking out at the front ahead of his brother, Bagnaia there in third but under pressure from Ogura in fourth place.
Awful start for Bezzecchi, he spun on the line and is 17th.
08:03
Race start
We're underway in Thailand and it's a holeshot for Marc Marquez.
Bagnaia passed Alex Marquez into turn one, but they swapped again on the exit.
08:01
Warm Up lap
The Warm Up lap is underway now in Thailand.
07:59
Just a couple of minutes remaining now before the warm-up lap gets underway.
Given the performance he has displayed this weekend, it's difficult to see anyone beating Marc Marquez, but as usual the start will be critical, and the battle for the podium behind is tough to call.
07:53
10 minutes to go now until the start of the Sprint.
Both Franco Morbidelli and Somkiat Chantra have picked up grid penalties this weekend for impeding other riders in Practice yesterday, but the penalties only affect the Grand Prix and not the Sprint; therefore Morbidelli will start the Sprint sixth, and Chantra 21st for his first premier class race.
07:47
Sighting lap
Pit lane has opened in Buriram and the riders are heading to the grid now on the sighting lap.
It's fairly warm ahead of this one: 37C air temperature and 58C track temperature.
This will make tyre management key, not only about wear but also how you get through the first couple of laps and the degree of traffic you find yourself in. After the opening stages, rising temperatures and pressures will make overtaking increasingly difficult.
07:43
Welcome back to live coverage of this weekend's MotoGP Thai Grand Prix and of the first race of the year with the Sprint here in Buriram.
Marc Marquez starts from pole position after a messy Q2, with Alex Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia joining him on the front row.
