Martin charges to top spot before a crash in the closing stages

Jorge Martin tops Friday Practice at the Thailand MotoGP as Francesco Bagnaia books his spot in Q2.

27 Oct 2023

Jorge Martin, Pramac Ducati MotoGP Buriram 2023

Tenth fastest in Free Practice 1, world championship leader Francesco Bagnaia made a swift return to pit lane due to a small issue with his factory Ducati. Bagnaia’s machine was undergoing work on the front brake disc.

At the top of the leaderboard it was a battle of the Fabios as Quartararo set the pace early on ahead of Di Giannantonio.

Alex Marquez then put his Gresini Ducati on top with a time of 1:30.728s, which was a tenth clear of Quartararo.

Despite being quick, Bagnaia was still struggling with the brakes as he ran wide at turn three.

After setting the fastest lap of the session, Maverick Vinales and Marc Marquez got into battle as the Aprilia rider came through under braking for turn 12.

Marquez was then overtaken by Australian grand prix winner Johann Zarco, after the eight-time world champion ran wide at turn three.

As he returned to pit lane Marquez was seen grabbing his right shoulder after a bizarre incident with Jorge Martin.

The Pramac rider appeared to clip one of the small bollards on entry to the pits which then flew up and hit Marquez.

However, it was a piece of carbon that came off Martin’s Ducati that hit the Repsol Honda rider.

Following Martin for a third time in this session, Marquez and the title contender began their latest time attacks both needing to find time in order to be safe in the top ten.

Both men did exactly that, however, it was Vinales with the pace as he became the first rider to break into the 1m 29s barrier.

Marco Bezzecchi then replaced Brad Binder in second, although he wasn’t able to join Vinales in setting a sub 1m 30s lap.

Bagnaia, who was only 11th after his first lap with the new tyre, then popped up to sixth as he looked to avoid a Q1 appearance for the third consecutive round.

Martin then showed his stunning speed once again by going a tenth clear of Vinales, however, the Spaniard suffered a crash just three corners later. Martin washed out the front-end under braking for turn three.