MotoGP Thailand, Buriram - Sprint Race Results

*Rookie.

Having lost points to title rival Francesco Bagnaia at the last two races, Jorge Martin has struck back by leading the Thai MotoGP Sprint race from start to finish.

After defending his pole position from Luca Marini at Turn 1, Martin managed a small but safe buffer over the field to cut Bagnaia's lead.

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KTM’s Brad Binder spent the first half of the 13 laps desperately trying to pass Marini for second place. Once ahead of the VR46 Ducati rider, the South African was unable to make an impact on Martin’s 1.6s lead and spent the closing stages defending the runner-up spot.

Marc Marquez, who had given the gloomy prediction of 10th to 15th place yesterday, instead rose swiftly from eighth to fifth - then snatched fourth from Aleix Espargaro at the final corner of the race, after the pair traded places on the last lap.

Reigning champion Bagnaia, who began the race 27 points clear of pole qualifier Jorge Martin, was roughed up on the opening lap and dropped from sixth to ninth.

The factory Ducati star then clawed his way back to seventh and was the fastest rider on track at one stage, but finished in the wheeltracks of Marco Bezzecchi and was visibly frustrated.

Takaaki Nakagami fell and remounted at the back, Augusto Fernandez crashed just before the halfway stage and Fabio di Giannantonio retired with a technical issue.

Maverick Vinales nearly clipped Bagnaia under braking on lap one, ran wide and slipped to 18th, later serving a long lap for track limits.

All riders chose the medium front and medium rear (the softer of the two available this weekend) tyres with the exception of Jack Miller, who picked the hard rear.

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Reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia held a 27-point lead over Jorge Martin heading into the Thai MotoGP, after the Pramac Ducati rider’s costly soft tyre gamble backfired on the final lap at Phillip Island.

Alex Rins, who withdrew from Phillip Island due to ongoing pain from his Mugello leg fractures, will miss Thailand after undergoing further surgery.