MotoGP: Fantastic Marquez takes first Thai Win

USPA NEWS - It was another master-class race for Championship leader Marc Marquez, who took the first MotoGP win ever in Thailand in front of a cheering, enthusiast crowd of more than 100.000 spectators. Marc´s seventh victory of the season is also the 68th of his career, putting him equal with Jorge Lorenzo as the fifth-most winning rider across all classes. It was a hat-track weekend for the Spaniard, who earned pole position, set the lap record and earned the victory.
Marc´s win came down to the last corner of the last lap, thanks to a thrilling battle with title contender Andrea Dovizioso.

Andrea Dovizioso finished second at the end of an exciting . The Ducati Team rider crossed the line in the runner-up slot after a thrilling scrap right down to the final corner with Marquez, who took the chequered flag just 0.115s ahead of his Italian rival. Dovizioso, who powered away from the front row thanks to his third-quickest time in qualifying, stayed in third for the first four laps and then on lap 5 overtook Marquez together with Rossi to move up into second. After grabbing the lead on lap 11, Andrea stayed in control of the race until the start of the final lap, engaging in an exciting battle with Marquez made up of passes and counter-passes, but he was overtaken by the Spanish rider at Turn 5 and despite a courageous attack under braking at the final corner, he had to settle for second place overall. For the Ducati Team´s Italian rider, this was the seventh podium of the season, and the fifth successive one since the Czech Grand Prix held at Brno at the start of August.

Maverick Viñales started from fourth on the grid but lost two positions in the busy opening laps as all riders were vying for a place at the front of the rider field. Having settled in sixth position, the number 25 rider soon started to fight back. He reclaimed fifth position on lap 3, overtaking Johann Zarco, and picked up his pace to tag onto the leading group. The five front riders, including the Spaniard, soon broke away, but the threat from behind wasn´t over just yet. On lap 11 the first three riders started to battle. This allowed the clever youngster to get into the mix, but it also meant that the pursuing field inched closer. The pressure was on the Yamaha rider, but he wasn't buckling. As the first three riders tried to break away once more, the youngster quickly overtook Cal Crutchlow, and with seven laps remaining, he joined his teammate. A lap later he overtook the Doctor, giving himself a clear view of the leading duo. With three laps to go the fight for the win really kicked off. Viñales was lying in wait directly behind Andrea Dovizioso and Marc Marquez. Though he came just short of putting in a move, he was mighty close as he finished in third place, just 0.270s from first and 0.155s from second.

Marc Marquez #93 winner “Of course I´m very, very happy today because it´s the first time I´ve beaten Dovi in this way. We were very equal, and my strategy was to try and attack in order to open a gap and avoid having it come down to the last lap. But Dovi had a very good pace and I was struggling with the front tyre, so I wasn´t able. Instead, I just tried to manage the tyres and stick to him. Honestly, I wasn´t so confident going into the final lap because I´ve lost many head-to-head finishes with him in the past. But this time, we swapped roles“”I used Dovi´s style and Dovi used Marquez´s style!“”and that worked to overtake him on the corner exit. It was a great feeling to race in front of all the Thai fans, who cheered and supported all of us riders equally, really enjoying the sport and making me feel good over the whole weekend. I´m really thankful to them. Now the first match ball will be in Japan, which is the most important race for Honda as it´s their only home Grand Prix. Of course we´ll try our best there, but if it´s not possible, the main target is still to achieve the title at some point.“

Andrea Dovizioso #04 Second “I´m very happy with this second place, even though I lost out on the win right at the final corner. Unfortunately, I didn´t have much idea about Marquez´s strengths and weaknesses because I was almost always in the lead: I tried to counter his pass at Turn 5 but lost a bit of ground and even though I still managed to make up some at the final corner, I wasn´t close enough to pass him. Pity, but for me this second place is worth more than the one in Aragón because on a track with these characteristics last year we would never have been able to fight for the win and so I´m satisfied with the improvements that we continue to make in every race. Together with my engineers, we always manage to understand something new, we´re working very well and now this gives us the chance of fighting for the win almost in every race.“

Maverick Viñales #25 third “I was stronger than I expected in the race. I got stuck behind Cal and fought a little with Valentino, and after that I felt really good. The bike was working well, so I'm very pleased about that. For sure I'm happy to finish so close to the top, to be on the podium, and to be able to recover nearly one second at the end, all under difficult conditions in which we used to suffer. I'm honestly very pleased, because the work we've done this weekend was done in a good way. It was hot and slippery, but we were still there, so we have to take this race in Thailand as an example and work even harder for the next race. I had a lot of confidence in the front, especially on braking. Let's see if we can manage this again for the next races. If we can do it again in Japan, it will mean we have improved. It's important to stay consistent, precise, and focused“.