Marco Bezzecchi edges out Martin, Bagnaia in Buriram MotoGP FP1

Marco Bezzecchi put his Gresini Ducati GP23 on top of the timesheets by just 0.038s from title leader Jorge Martin during opening practice for the Thai MotoGP at Buriram.

The VR46 rider stuck with same soft front and hard rear tyres for the 45-minute session, setting a best of 1m 30.492s on his 7th of 20 laps.

That kept Bezzecchi on top from the eleventh minute onwards.

Martin also began on the soft front-hard rear rubber, with which he set his best lap of the session before switching over to the medium rear for his final run.

Perhaps significantly, Martin’s pace on the new medium rear was only a tenth or two faster than the Pramac rider and Bezzecchi were able to set on the old hard rear.

Reigning double champion Francesco Bagnaia, who starts this weekend 20-points behind defending Buriram winner Martin, was only 0.2s from Bezzecchi in terms of best lap time.

However, unlike the pair ahead, the factory star dropped out of the 1m 30s and into the 1m 31s after his 15th lap on the soft front/hard rear tyres.

Bezzecchi had set a 1m 30.921s on his 20th lap and Martin a 1m 30.876s on his 17th lap, with those tyres. Bagnaia’s 16th lap was a 1m 31.002s (he made a mistake on his 17th) and his 20th a 1m 31.095s.

Phillip Island winner Marc Marquez bucked the tyre trend by starting on the hard front (with the hard rear), a combination he kept throughout with his best time (+0.259s) on lap 14.

Meanwhile, Gresini team-mate and younger brother Alex did find performance after switching to the medium rear on his final run, climbing to fifth, just behind Marc.

Bagnaia’s team-mate Enea Bastianini was sixth, with KTM rookie Pedro Acosta making a strong return from injury by featuring in sixth for much of the session and finishing 0.4s from Bezzecchi.

Jack Miller also made a encouraging start to the weekend for the Red Bull team in eighth, while Brad Binder – a victory contender at Buriram a year ago – lost time due to early technical issues before rising to 11th.

Between Miller and team-mate Binder was top Honda rider Takaaki Nakagami and leading Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo.

Aprilia’s top rider was Maverick Vinales, in only 15th place, with factory team-mate Aleix Espargaro suffering an early fall at the final corner and not returning.

A team update stated: “Following the fall involving Aleix Espargaro, the rider underwent examinations and no clinically significant injuries were found. He only sustained a minor trauma.”