MotoGP: Jorge Martin wins his fifth consecutive Sprint

Jorge Martin comfortable wins the Thailand Sprint.

After a tense qualifying, Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Ducati) was the fastest rider on the circuit, earning the Spaniard pole position. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) joined him on the front row.

Jorge Martin had a bad initial start to the race, allowing Luca Marini to battle into the first corner. Martin was brave and kept the lead and began to try and stretch the field on the Ducati.

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) dropped back at the start, down to ninth position after the first lap.

Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda IDEMITSU) did not complete the first lap of the race after a crash at the final turn. Augusto Fernandez (GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3) was the next rider to fall, also at the final turn.

Martin looked to be managing the race lead in the early stages, keeping a gap of a second to Marini. This strategy looked to be working with Marini in a battle with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).

As the race progressed Marini and Binder’s battle continued which allowed Martin to eventually extend a very comfortable lead.

Track limits looked to be an issue with some key runners such as Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing), Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), and Bagnaia getting a warning. Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing) was given a long lap penalty due to exceeding track limits.

Another issue was the temperatures, with 47 degrees track temperature and 33 degrees air temperature. This meant riders had to be conscious of tyre pressures and manage tyre wear throughout the race.

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) has had a great weekend so far and spent the MotoGP Sprint battling for the top five places. His teammate, Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team) was down in 12^th position.

At the line, Jorge Martin came across to win comfortably by one second from KTM’s Brad Binder. Luca Marini rounded off an impressive podium with Marc Marquez pulling off a last corner pass for fourth. This move dropped a frustrated Aleix Espargaro to fifth position onboard the Aprilia.

Marco Bezzecchi ended his race in sixth position and ahead of the Championship leader, Francesco Bagnaia. The Championship lead has been reduced to just 18 points with still 136 points up for grabs.

Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) finished the race in eighth position as he continues to make his injury comeback. His teammate, Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP) did not finish the race after suffering from a mechanical issue.

Australian Grand Prix winner, Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Ducati) scored the last point in the MotoGP Sprint.

The main race will take place on Sunday morning with a chance of rain during the day in Thailand. The race begins at 8:00 am where riders will be faced with a 26-lap race (double the Sprint).

For more MotoGP content:

Image credit: Red Bull Content Pool