Thailand MotoGP, Buriram - Free Practice (1) Results

Free Practice (1) results from the Thailand MotoGP at Buriram, round 17 of 20 in the 2022 world championship.
Marc
Marc

Updated with a quote from Danilo Petrucci after his first session on the Suzuki GSX-RR.

Thailand MotoGP, Buriram - Free Practice (1) Results
PosRiderNatTeamTime/DiffLapMax
1Marc MarquezSPARepsol Honda (RC213V)1'30.523s16/18330k
2Fabio QuartararoFRAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+0.032s19/21333k
3Jack MillerAUSDucati Lenovo (GP22)+0.065s19/19336k
4Luca MariniITAMooney VR46 Ducati (GP22)+0.098s21/22334k
5Alex RinsSPASuzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)+0.118s21/22331k
6Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo (GP22)+0.223s19/19334k
7Miguel OliveiraPORRed Bull KTM (RC16)+0.233s19/19328k
8Franco MorbidelliITAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+0.242s20/20328k
9Enea BastianiniITAGresini Ducati (GP21)+0.267s19/20331k
10Jorge MartinSPAPramac Ducati (GP22)+0.319s18/20333k
11Cal CrutchlowGBRWithU Yamaha RNF (YZR-M1)+0.358s19/20329k
12Johann ZarcoFRAPramac Ducati (GP22)+0.462s21/21338k
13Fabio Di GiannantonioITAGresini Ducati (GP21)*+0.481s17/18333k
14Pol EspargaroSPARepsol Honda (RC213V)+0.484s20/20330k
15Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM (RC16)+0.536s22/24329k
16Aleix EspargaroSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP)+0.564s18/19329k
17Maverick ViñalesSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP)+0.637s19/19332k
18Marco BezzecchiITAMooney VR46 Ducati (GP21)*+0.707s21/21334k
19Remy GardnerAUSKTM Tech3 (RC16)*+0.802s17/19329k
20Raul FernandezSPAKTM Tech3 (RC16)*+1.028s21/21327k
21Alex MarquezSPALCR Honda (RC213V)+1.132s21/21331k
22Danilo PetrucciITASuzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)+2.183s17/19327k
23Darryn BinderRSAWithU Yamaha RNF (YZR-M1)*+2.426s13/19323k
24Tetsuta NagashimaJPNLCR Honda (RC213V)+2.550s20/22330k

* Rookie

Official Buriram MotoGP records:
Best lap:
Fabio Quartararo FRA Yamaha 1m 29.719s (2019)
Fastest race lap:
Marc Marquez SPA Honda 1m 30.904s (2019)

Marc Marquez began opening free practice for the 2022 Thailand MotoGP with a small fall but finished it on top of the Buriram timesheets.

The eight-time world champion, who took his first pole in three years at a wet Motegi last weekend, snatched the top spot from reigning title holder Fabio Quartararo during a frantic end to the session, which saw just 0.098s cover the top four riders.

After almost continuous rain for the last two days, courtesy of storm Noru, the sky brightened slightly on Friday morning.

A wet but drying track for Moto3 progressed to slick tyres during the Moto2 session, although some damp patches were still present as the premier class then took to the circuit for the first time since 2019.

Marc Marquez - winner of broth previous Thai Grands Prix - and Miguel Oliveira were caught out with falls early, Marquez running wide and losing the front of his RCV on the (probably damp) blue paint, before remounting and continuing without pitting.

Pramac Ducati's Johann Zarco was leading Francesco Bagnaia and Quartararo as riders put in soft rear tyres for a late-time attack in case of further rain, which remains a threat for the rest of the weekend.

While Quartararo began the weekend strongly for both race pace and time attack, title rivals Francesco Bagnaia and Aleix Espargaro had a more complicated session.

Bagnaia had suddenly dropped from second to twelfth with two minutes to go, putting him in danger of missing a top ten place. The Italian then climbed back to sixth, only to be pushed down to 13th, before returning to sixth on his very final lap.

That nudged an impressive Cal Crutchlow to eleventh, while Aleix Espargaro was left 16th for Aprilia (but only +0.564s) and must also hope for further dry weather to try and break into the top ten by the end of FP3 and avoid a visit to Qualifying 1.

Danilo Petrucci Thailand MotoGP. 30 September
Danilo Petrucci Thailand MotoGP. 30 September

Danilo Petrucci: The Suzuki is such a nice bike

Danilo Petrucci, drafted in as a late substitute for the injured Joan Mir at Suzuki, completed his first MotoGP session since last year's Valencia finale with a best lap time a creditable 2.183s from Marquez - putting him ahead of both Darryn Binder and Tetsuta Nagashima.

"I’m really happy that I’ve tried the Suzuki GSX-RR. I was so nervous because, you know, the bike is different to anything I’ve been used to ride in the past, but it is such a nice bike that I enjoyed it very much," Petrucci said.

"Really, I was not expecting that the bike was so good. For sure everything is really difficult because the other guys are going really really fast, and I still need to understand how to ride the bike and adapt my riding style to it, but I’m really happy and I didn’t expect to be so fast since the very beginning.”

Remote video URL

Fabio Quartararo takes an extended 18-point world championship lead over Francesco Bagnaia into the final four rounds, after the Italian’s last lap accident at Motegi.

The Japanese Grand Prix was also a race to forget for Aleix Espargaro, who has slipped 25 points from the top after technical issues forced a last-minute bike swap, leaving him 16th.

The last time MotoGP raced at Buriram, in 2019, Marc Marquez - on pole at Motegi last weekend - narrowly held off then rookie Quartararo to wrap up his eighth world title, with Maverick Vinales completing a podium covered by just 1.3s.

MotoGP welcomes back Danilo Petrucci this weekend. Fresh from finishing runner-up in the MotoAmerica Superbike championship, the double premier-class winner (with Ducati) is stepping in at Suzuki for the injured Joan Mir.

Petrucci won’t be the only substitute on track, with HRC test rider Tetsuta Nagashima, who crashed out of a MotoGP race debut last weekend at Motegi, called up in place of injured countryman Takaaki Nakagami at LCR Honda.

Wet weather is forecast throughout the Buriram event.

As with the other end of season ‘flyaways’, absent from the calendar since Covid restrictions in 2019, ten riders have no prior experience of racing in MotoGP at Buriram: Brad Binder, Alex Marquez, Jorge Martin, Enea Bastianini, Luca Marini, plus this year’s rookies Marco Bezzecchi, Fabio di Giannantonio, Darryn Binder, Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez.

Thailand MotoGP schedule

Friday September 30

3am - Moto3 FP1

3.55am - Moto2 FP1

4.50am - MotoGP FP1

7.15am - Moto3 FP2

8.10am - Moto2 FP2

9.05am - MotoGP FP2

Saturday October 1

3am - Moto3 FP3

3.55am - Moto2 FP3

4.50am - MotoGP FP3

6.35am - Moto3 Q1

7am - Moto3 Q2

7.30am - Moto2 Q1

7.55am - Moto2 Q2

8.25am - MotoGP FP4

9.05am - MotoGP Q1

9.30am - MotoGP Q2

Sunday October 2

4am - Moto3 warm-up

4.20am - Moto2 warm-up

4.40am - MotoGP warm-up

6am - Moto3 race

7.20am - Moto2 race

9am - MotoGP race

Motegi: MotoGP World Championship standings
Pos RiderNatTeamPointsDiff.
1=Fabio QuartararoFRAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)219 
2=Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo (GP22)201(-18)
3=Aleix EspargaroSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP)194(-25)
4=Enea BastianiniITAGresini Ducati (GP21)170(-49)
5=Jack MillerAUSDucati Lenovo (GP22)159(-60)
6^1Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM (RC16)148(-71)
7˅1Johann ZarcoFRAPramac Ducati (GP22)138(-81)
8^1Jorge MartinSPAPramac Ducati (GP22)120(-99)
9^1Maverick ViñalesSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP)113(-106)
10˅2Alex RinsSPASuzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)108(-111)
11=Miguel OliveiraPORRed Bull KTM (RC16)106(-113)
12=Luca MariniITAMooney VR46 Ducati (GP22)101(-118)
13^1Marco BezzecchiITAMooney VR46 Ducati (GP21)*80(-139)
14˅1Joan MirSPASuzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)77(-142)
15=Marc MarquezSPARepsol Honda (RC213V)73(-146)
16^1Pol EspargaroSPARepsol Honda (RC213V)47(-172)
17˅1Takaaki NakagamiJPNLCR Honda (RC213V)46(-173)
18=Alex MarquezSPALCR Honda (RC213V)42(-177)
19=Franco MorbidelliITAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)28(-191)
20=Fabio di GiannantonioITAGresini Ducati (GP21)*23(-196)
21=Andrea DoviziosoITAWithU Yamaha RNF (YZR-M1)15(-204)
22=Darryn BinderRSAWithU Yamaha RNF (YZR-M1)*10(-209)
23=Remy GardnerAUSKTM Tech3 (RC16)*9(-210)
24=Raul FernandezSPAKTM Tech3 (RC16)*8(-211)
25^1Cal CrutchlowGBRWithU Yamaha RNF (YZR-M1)3(-216)
26˅1Stefan BradlGERRepsol Honda (RC213V)2(-217)

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