2024 MotoGP World Championship
Round 18 – Chang International Circuit
PT Grand Prix of Thailand – Sunday
Francesco Bagnaia – P1
“This morning, after the warm-up, I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t worried, though, because I knew we had the potential to do well, but we had to fix something in terms of bike behaviour under braking: we managed to do so, and I felt better straight away. When Jorge tried to pull away early on, I chose to wait a couple of laps as I had noticed that he was taking many risks. The battle with Marc (Márquez was really good and before his crash, we were really lapping at an incredible pace. I’d like to dedicate this win to the team, because as usual they have done a fantastic job.”
Jorge Martin – P2
“It was a really challenging race, a challenging day. I think nobody, I don’t want anybody to feel what I felt before the race. I think being back or being at this stage of the championship with this condition is not good, but I think I kept calm and the race went well. The beginning was super good, but straight away, as soon as I started, I was sliding a lot from the rear and I was even increasing that gap. But at some point I saw that they had something else. As soon as Marc crashed, I also lose the front the same way as him, but I was able to save it. I think without Marc crashing I would have also crashed, I was able to understand and, and anticipate a bit. It was a really long race. The last few laps I was thinking, like, fuck, I just wanted to be in dry, you know? I thought that in dry I have something else, something more than Pecco at the moment, so I wanted in dry. He was super strong today. I mean, he’s, as you can see, he’s a great champion. He’s not three times world champion because of nothing. He’s strong in all the conditions. I try to keep his pace, and just losing three points is a really good weekend, trust me. I think this weekend I learned something more, and I’m really happy.”
Pedro Acosta – P3
“It was a long race for sure! At some point, I saw that there were still 16 laps to go and I could not believe it! After many DNFs, today was about working with our head. We tried to remain calm, think about the mapping and the evolution of the track, it was important to finish the race. I made a mistake in T3 at the start, but we recovered well and we were able to have some great battles in the end. We need to be happy with today, it is good for us to be back on the podium, and the first one in wet conditions.”
Fabio Di Giannantonio – P4
“A race with many values: before the start I spoke with the whole Team, we just wanted to enjoy this last GP before the surgery. And that’s how it was, I made an incredible comeback. The podium was there; it would have been a dream, but I’m still happy, and I want to thank my entire work group and the Team. They were seven very tough races after the injury, but we didn’t give up. An incredible Team effort, I’m returning to Italy before the time but I’m satisfied: the 2024 balance is more than positive.”
Jack Miller – P5
“Well, I can tell you that it feels bloody good to say that we scored a top-five finish in Thailand! It’s no secret this year has been tough, so races like this where you can get back to where you feel like you belong is epic. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed we missed out on the podium, only because it was so damn close, but all in all, I’m pretty stoked about the result. Not an ideal start to the weekend, we just missed out on going directly through to Q2 on Friday, the times were super close, so I wasn’t too bent out of shape by that one. Just one of those things, sometimes you’re the hammer, and sometimes you’re the nail.
“The track was a lot of fun this weekend, I enjoy the layout in Thailand – it has a good flow and a mix of different corners so always keeps you on your toes. We did what we could in the Sprint Race, wasn’t the result we were chasing, and wrapped up P11 in that one knowing we had a couple areas to improve. Moving onto the Race, and honestly, the first few laps were a bit ‘how ya going’ with all the spray from the weather, it was hectic out there! Managed to avoid the carnage thankfully, and found my way into P4 from P15 on the grid. Shortly after, I got to P3 and was pretty bloody stoked about that, although by that point I’d cooked the front tyre and all my roll speed was pretty much gone, with three laps to go there was nothing left and I was a sitting duck. That being said, I can’t complain too much about the weekend – I really wanted that podium, but we won’t stop fighting for it as we do every weekend.”
Brad Binder – P6
“I knew it would be important to get to the front early because of the spray and that worked out pretty well. I felt really comfortable to thanks to my guys for the changes we made because I felt great in the wet. It was just a shame that I had squared the tire by the last four or five laps and was just spinning a lot. Hard to drive out of the corners. I wanted more but having started 13th and scoring 6th then that’s all we had today.”
Maverick Vinales – P7
“The sensations in the wet were good. It’s a shame I wasn’t able to start further forward because the pace was decent enough to battle for the podium. I felt comfortable in the wet, braking at the right spots and managing to maintain a good pace. This result brings home important points to stay in the battle for the championship standings.”
Johann Zarco – P8
“It’s been a good day! We’ve achieved the best result of the year so far, which is always a boost of motivation. The beginning of the race was tough and I lost several positions. At that point, I tried not to lose concentration, and during the second half of the race, I started to feel better, which allowed me to get to the 8th position. I’ve enjoyed the battle, many thanks to the team for the job done this weekend!”
Aleix Espargaro – P9
“It was a complicated weekend due to the crash in FP1. On Friday, I had basically not ridden at all and on Saturday I was not at 100% fitness, so the race in the wet helped me. I gave it my all and tried to maintain a solid pace. On such a complicated weekend, ninth place is a positive result.”
Alex Marquez – P10
“I made a silly mistake on the sighting lap but it wasn’t due to a lack of concentration. I wanted to try a line on the kerb and ended up on the ground. I’m sorry for the team, even though my pace today was worth of a seventh/eighth place, even if I started from row three. We’ll make amends in Malaysia.”
Marc Marquez – P11
“Today we were the quickest on track, so the result cannot be satisfactory. There was no way to overtake Pecco: I tried it in the safest way possible, but it was easy to make a mistake in these conditions. We did make a mistake, and despite that we ended up eleventh. Then, from the back of the field I had a lot to do in order to score some points, but we managed to do so. Now it is time for Malaysia, a track where we’re likely to struggle.”
Luca Marini – P12
“I enjoyed Warm Up and the race a lot. Conditions were super complicated and there were a lot of points where you had to risk crashing. Even in these tricky conditions I was quite fast, but with how slippery it was on track it was quite difficult to overtake so I was behind several riders for a bit too long. It was really fun to battle with Mir and Zarco for most of the race. A satisfactory race to save the weekend after a really challenging Saturday. Now two more chances to make some more progress before the next season starts.”
Takaaki Nakagami – P13
“The beginning of the race was difficult. I didn’t get the feeling with the rear tyre, and the conditions were tricky, so it took me some laps to understand the situation. Then, I started to feel better, I could overtake some rivals as I was faster than some of them. In the end, I managed to grab some points, which is always important. We’ll try again next week in Malaysia!”
Enea Bastianini – P14
“We were in the position to do well. Unfortunately, I was pushed wide at turn one and lost a lot of ground on the straight – plus the visibility was very low in the early stages. Then, lap after lap, I managed to find the right feeling and made up some places, but I was very at the limit and ended up tucking the front at turn eight. It’s a pity, I didn’t expect that to happen. Luckily, I was able to re-join and score a couple of points.”
Joan Mir – P15
“The first half of our race was really good, I felt strong, and I was able to do more or less as I wanted. In the second half the feeling changed, and we lost a lot of ground, as a team we need to look at what happened to understand and improve for next time because if we continued the race like we started it, I really think a top ten was possible today. Overall, our weekend has had a lot of positives, and I think we deserved more than just a single point. I am looking forward to arriving in Malaysia and having the possibility to show our potential again.”
Fabio Quartararo – P16
“The start was pretty good. It was a positive first couple of laps, and I was enjoying fighting with these guys at the front. Then I had the contact with Franco that took me out. I rejoined the race and – considering that I was riding without a footpeg and rear brake, the handlebars were bent, and I had no wings – the pace was still pretty good. I think it was good to do more laps in the rain. Let’s see what we can do in Malaysia!”
Alex Rins – DNF
“Luckily, I’m okay, because I crashed in Turn 4, which is a long corner. Overall, it was the same as in dry conditions: it took a lot of laps to warm the rear tyre. When the tyre was ready after 5-6 laps, I was able to ride in the 1’40s. I had a group in front of me, and I was able to catch up, but I struggled to pass them. I had the opportunity to overtake Joan Mir. But I was already a bit on the limit with the front tyre because I had been trying different lines once I became part of the group, trying to overtake. I was feeling the front tyre was degrading, and my race ended early.”
Raul Fernandez – DNF
“At the beginning of the race, I had a problem to warm up the rear tire well. After three, four laps, I felt much better and ready to push. Lap by lap, I recovered positions and I improved my lap times a lot. I don’t understand the crash, for some reason, it seemed that the engine breaking was not there and I went down. It feels everything happened at once and I don’t know why we had this kind of problem. When I felt the bike was ready and I had the right temperature in the tire, I started to push and I went faster and faster and was overtaking some riders. I didn’t have the pace for the top 5, but I was catching the group behind them. Hopefully, it all just happens this year and next season we don’t have these kinds of problems because it’s very frustrating after a weekend in which we worked very well and made some steps forward.”
Augusto Fernandez – DNF
“A great shame to finish the race in a crash. I saw the light for a top 10, which would have been great for us, but at some point I made a small mistake and lost some positions to 11th. I tried to recover the positions, I pushed, maybe more than what was possible, and I crashed. We’ll try again next week in Malaysia.”
Lorenzo Savadori – DNF
“The first time, I didn’t crash but went straight on at turn 3 due to an issue with the bike and the second crash happened again because of an issue. Maybe I should have retired after the first time, but I wanted to continue for the team, for Aprilia, for everybody and myself. We need to check what happened because there was something strange. During this race, I didn’t use the test parts and we were fast and were even fighting for the points scoring positions. This was good so, now, we have to analyse the problems to find out what happened.”
Marco Bezzecchi – DNF
“A difficult moment, in general. I took a lot of risks at the start, probably I didn’t get the rear tire up to temperature well. In the first lap I came close to crashing a couple of times. In the attempt and in the rush to recover, I made a mistake at turn 1. As soon as I lost the bike, I couldn’t do anything to recover. Let’s get back to work in Malaysia.”
Team Managers
Luigi Dall’Igna – Ducati Corse General Manager
“It was a challenging race. It’s easy to make a mistake in these conditions: you must give it all in order to win but be careful at the same time, because a mistake is always around the corner. I must congratulate Pecco and Jorge for today’s incredible performance. It is now officially a two-way battle for the title, on equal terms. Our goal is to give them all the information so that they can get the set-up out of their bikes and may the best win. We’lll have to suffer until the end, but I’m sure they’ll deliver plenty of more excitement to us as well as to all the Ducatisti.”
Nicolas Goyon – GASGAS Team Manager
“Unbelievable completion to our Thai Grand Prix campaign! Pedro Acosta gave the perfect answer to the tricky races he had lately. We knew that we could perform well here, and we were obviously disappointed with yesterday’s crash. The target today was clearly to see the checkered flag, but when we saw the weather forecasts, we understood that maybe we could fight for more. Pedro did an amazing first race in the wet, he somehow managed to avoid making mistakes to finish this race on the podium in P3, so congratulations to him! We are still in the fight for the top 5 with two rounds left, so let’s keep fighting and try finishing this rookie season in the best way possible. Augusto Fernandez knew that today was a race for him, as he has always been fast in the rain. He wanted to show a good figure, but unfortunately, he crashed while he was in P8, which is, of course, a great shame. That result would have been good for him, but it is racing. We will now head to Malaysia for the final leg of this intense tripleheader.”
Pablo Nieto – VR46 Team Manager
“A heart-pounding race all the way to the checkered flag! Fabio really surprised us today, he fixed a weekend that hadn’t started in the best way and showed off a lot of determination. He was clear, he wasn’t in a hurry at the start, he kept his pace and in the end he raised the bar. I’m really happy for him, it’s just a shame he didn’t celebrate this last race with a podium, but I’m sure there will be time and a way in the future. As a Team and as a Family, we all wish him the best for this shoulder surgery and we can’t wait to hug him again in 2025. It wasn’t an easy race for Marco, a start like this unfortunately forces you close the gap to the guys in front. On a Sunday like today, with rain and a big group battle, the possibility of making a mistake is very high.”
Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager
“The visibility in the first laps was crazy but both Jack and Brad recovered a lot of positions and we had 3rd until two laps from the end. We missed the podium by almost nothing. The conditions were hard, a mess, and to stay-up was a miracle. Congratulations to our guys for their job and we’ll look forward to Sepang.”
Massimo Rivola – Aprilia Racing
“Maverick maintained an extremely good pace throughout the race. He had a good start; it’s a shame he lost a couple positions on the first lap. Aleix battled and did not give up all the way to the end. After the bad crash in FP1, it was reassuring to see him battling in the race. We’ll try to fully analyse everything we’ve learned here in order to arrive in Malaysia ready to go.”
Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director
Today the conditions were very different from what we’ve had all weekend, so that made the Race extra tricky. But it’s the same for everyone. We had used Warm Up to get the bikes’ wet set-up ready, and then it was up to the riders to find the limit on this very damp track. Fabio did a great job at the start, and he was fighting inside the top 5 when Franco Morbidelli ran into him. It’s a big shame, because Fabio was on course for a good result. Fabio is the type to never let go until the Race is over, so he rejoined the Race and kept pushing, but unfortunately his efforts were not rewarded with any points today. Álex lost some ground on the opening lap, but his pace and position gradually improved. He was catching up and battling with the riders ahead of him when he took a fall. It’s a pity, but the main thing is that he is okay. Today’s results are a bit of an anticlimax for our team – this Race had more potential. Luckily, we can have a do-over already next week when we wrap up this second triple-header in Malaysia.
Wilco Zeelenberg – Trackhouse Team Manager
“It was a rainy day in Thailand and of course, we are very disappointed with the results from today. The conditions have been wet and both riders crashed in the race, so zero points. I think it would have been an opportunity to grab some extra points, even though it would have been difficult because the top 15 were fast. Anyway, both riders are not injured, so let’s look forward to Sepang and see if we are able to do better than here in Buriram. One very positive highlight today was that Ai Ogura got the World Championship title in Moto2 and is ready to come onboard with Trackhouse Racing, in MotoGP, after the last race in Valencia.”
Davide Brivio – Trackhouse Team Principal
“Of course, it was a difficult day for us. It was raining, so the track was wet, which always makes for difficult conditions and then we had both Raul and Lorenzo crashing which we have to analyze. But, in wet conditions, we know it is quite easy to go down. It’s a pity, especially with Raul, as we were working through some improvements quite well during the weekend. He missed Q2 and so was starting from 20th position but we had some race pace and we were hoping for a recovery – especially if it had been a dry race. So OK, we have to take this and at least we have another race next week and we look forward to Malaysia.”
Thailand MotoGP Race Results
Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
1 | F Bagnaia | Duc | 43m38.108 |
2 | J Martin | Duc | +2.905 |
3 | P Acosta | KTM | +3.800 |
4 | F Giannantonio | Duc | +4.636 |
5 | J Miller | KTM | +5.532 |
6 | B Binder | KTM | +5.898 |
7 | M Viñales | Apr | +8.498 |
8 | J Zarco | Hon | +17.672 |
9 | A Espargaro | Apr | +18.588 |
10 | A Marquez | Duc | +21.163 |
11 | L Marini | Hon | +22.859 |
12 | M Marquez | Duc | +22.251 |
13 | T Nakagami | Hon | +24.531 |
14 | E Bastianini | Duc | +27.090 |
15 | J Mir | Hon | +30.870 |
16 | F Quartararo | Yam | +50.021 |
Not Classified | |||
DNF | A Fernandez | KTM | 3 laps |
DNF | A Rins | Yam | 4 laps |
DNF | L Savadori | Apr | 10 laps |
DNF | F Morbidelli | Duc | 19 laps |
DNF | R Fernandez | Apr | 20 laps |
DNF | M Bezzecchi | Duc | 23 laps |
Thailand MotoGP Top Speeds Across Weekend
Pos | Rider | Bike | Speed |
1 | P Acosta | KTM | 340.6 |
2 | J Martin | Duc | 338.5 |
3 | E Bastianini | Duc | 337.5 |
4 | A Espargaro | Apr | 337.5 |
5 | F Bagnaia | Duc | 336.4 |
6 | L Savadori | Apr | 335.4 |
7 | J Zarco | Hon | 335.4 |
8 | F Morbidelli | Duc | 335.4 |
9 | M Viñales | Apr | 334.3 |
10 | F Quartararo | Yam | 334.3 |
11 | R Fernandez | Apr | 334.3 |
12 | J Mir | Hon | 334.3 |
13 | M Marquez | Duc | 334.3 |
14 | A Fernandez | KTM | 334.3 |
15 | A Rins | Yam | 334.3 |
16 | J Miller | KTM | 333.3 |
17 | L Marini | Hon | 333.3 |
18 | B Binder | KTM | 333.3 |
19 | F Giannantonio | Duc | 332.3 |
20 | M Bezzecchi | Duc | 332.3 |
21 | T Nakagami | Hon | 331.2 |
22 | A Marquez | Duc | 331.2 |
MotoGP Championship Standings
Pos | Rider | Points |
1 | Martin | 453 |
2 | Bagnaia | 436 |
3 | Marquez | 355 |
4 | Bastianini | 345 |
5 | Binder | 203 |
6 | Acosta | 197 |
7 | Viñales | 180 |
8 | Di Giannantonio | 165 |
9 | Morbidelli | 155 |
10 | Espargaro | 143 |
11 | Bezzecchi | 137 |
12 | Marquez | 136 |
13 | Quartararo | 93 |
14 | Miller | 82 |
15 | Oliveira | 71 |
16 | Fernandez | 66 |
17 | Zarco | 48 |
18 | Nakagami | 31 |
19 | Rins | 23 |
20 | Mir | 21 |
21 | Fernandez | 21 |
22 | Marini | 14 |
23 | Espargaro | 12 |
24 | Pedrosa | 7 |
25 | Bradl | 2 |