Saturday, October 26, 2024, 1:31 p.m.
Pecco Bagnaia struck first on an intense Saturday at the Buriram circuit, where he took a record pole position in the morning and looked to be on another level. In a Q2 in which both Jorge Martín and Marc Márquez ended up crashing on their second attempt at a fast lap. The good thing for them is that they had secured one in their first attempt and while the Madrid native fulfilled his objective of starting in the front row (third), the Catalan did so from the second row (fifth). Between the two riders vying for the MotoGP title was Enea Bastianini, who ended up being the winner on Saturday.
The tension was from the start, when the three Ducatis on the front row arrived practically parallel to the first braking, Bagnaia and Martín braked very late, and both went long, especially the Spaniard, who also lost position with Márquez and Acosta.
That first lap rearranged the positions and left Bastianini alone in the lead, followed by Márquez, who did not have the pace of the 2024 Ducati and made a small block that the Italian in front took advantage of to open the gap. He quickly opened a second difference with his pursuers, which in the end was definitive for the victory, because during the 13 laps of the sprint, ‘The Beast’ imposed a pace ahead and managed to perfection the advantage that they gave him in the first laps. .
With Bastianini riding unopposed in front, the battle was in the other two podium positions, with Bagnaia, Márquez and Martín forming a trio that was soon left behind by Pedro Acosta, who also crashed on the fourth lap and, Although he rejoined the race, he ultimately chose to retire. The championship leader had to put on his overalls to overtake Acosta first and then Márquez; and he studied his main rival to find the door open in the most linked part of the circuit, where the Italian did not expect it, and where he even had to go to the green to consolidate the overtake.
With the second position in his pocket and the notice from the Race Direction that he could not exceed the track limits again, Martín chose to keep a second place that was worth its weight in gold. Not so much because of the 2 extra points he got from Bagnaia, but because of the mental blow that this victory represented. «I think today has been a great day. It gives me a lot of confidence to have gone back and then passed three stoppers like Acosta, Márquez and Bagnaia. Obviously, all the points that I can get are positive, but the important thing is that here Pecco looked very, very strong and being able to beat him today has been good on a psychological level.
The MotoGP leader now has 22 points, which means that Martín depends on himself to be champion, since it is enough for him to be second in all the remaining events (three races and two sprints) from now on. end of the year.
Ducati makes history
Marc Márquez could not endure the duel for the podium with Martín and Bagnaia, on the track where, perhaps, the difference between the 2024 version worn by the first three is most noticeable; and the 2023 that the one from Cervera has. And the same can be said between the Italian bikes and the rest, since the eight Ducati on the grid took the first eight positions in the sprint. Something never seen to date. Álex Márquez finished fifth, ahead of Morbidelli, Bezzecchi and Di Giannantonio. The first non-Ducati bike and the one who took the last point at stake with ninth position was the South African Binder with the KTM.
Qualifications for the small categories were also held at this Buriram circuit, on a Saturday without Spanish pole positions. The Japanese Ogura took the Moto2 title, ahead of Arón Canet, and will start from a privileged position in the race that could give him the title in the intermediate category. The Japanese would even be worth fifth place, even if Canet wins the race. And in Moto3, pole went to the Australian Kelso, ahead of Veijer and the young ‘rookie’ Ángel Piqueras.
