2024 Thai MotoGP: Bastianini beats Martin in tense sprint
Martin extends championship lead over Bagnaia in nervy sprint race
Ducati’s Enea Bastianini led from start to finish in the MotoGP Thai Grand Prix sprint as Jorge Martin survived a track limits scare to finish a crucial second.
Having heaped the pressure on himself after crashing in qualifying, Martin made a scrappy start to the sprint from third on the grid as he tried to launch into the lead ahead of poleman Francesco Bagnaia.
As he pushed both wide, Bastianini came through to take the lead and led every lap to secure victory by 1.357 seconds.
Martin fought back to second ahead of Bagnaia, but was handed a track limits warning midway through the 13-lap sprint, creating a nervous end to the race for the Pramac rider.
Responding to late pressure from Bagnaia, though, Martin cemented second by 1.015s to take two vital points and extend his championship lead to 22.
Martin has now put himself in a position that if Bagnaia wins every one of the remaining races, the Pramac rider only has to finish second in each of them to win the championship.
Bagnaia completed the podium ahead of Gresini’s Marc Marquez, who faded out of the rostrum battle on his GP23 to 3.030s behind his future team-mate.
Off the line, Martin jumped Bastianini and drew alongside Bagnaia into Turn 1, with an aggressive move forcing both wide.
Martin ran further off track and had to cut the throttle as he rejoined as he nearly hit Marc Marquez.
This dropped Martin to fifth behind Tech3 GASGAS rookie Pedro Acosta, who kept the Pramac rider at bay until Turn 5 on lap two.
At the start of lap three, Bastianini was 0.8s clear of Bagnaia, while Martin would clear Marquez on lap four.
Once ahead of Marquez, Martin quickly piled the pressure on Bagnaia and took second away from his championship rival with an impressive move on the inside of Turn 7 on lap seven.
But Martin ran wide as he did this, which earned him a track limits warning.
Bastianini came under no threat through to the chequered flag as he beat Martin by 1.357s, while the latter avoided any track limits penalty in second.
Behind Bagnaia and Marquez came the sister Gresini Ducati of Alex Marquez, who was 4.7s behind his team-mate in fifth and 0.9s clear of Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli.
VR46 duo Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Di Giannantonio came next, with KTM’s Brad Binder scoring the final sprint point in ninth.
A big moment on lap one dropped sixth-placed starter Fabio Quartararo out of the points, with the Yamaha rider taking the chequered flag in 10th ahead of KTM’s Jack Miller and leading Honda Johann Zarco in 12th.
The Aprilias suffered a difficult sprint, with Raul Fernandez for Trackhouse the marque’s leading rider in 14th - 19.6s off the win.
Acosta crashed on lap four at Turn 3. He remounted, but retired into pitlane late on.
