Saturdays belong to Ducati

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The Italian marque again dominates the front row of the MotoGP grid in Thailand with rookie Marco Bezzecchi on pole, followed by Jorge Martín and Pecco Bagnaia

This year there have been a total of 17 Q2s in the MotoGP World Championship this year and 13 times the rider who started from first on the grid has done so on a Ducati. The data is outrageous in itself, but it’s more devastating when you factor in that seven out of eight riders have achieved at least one pole position, making it clear that the differential factor in one lap is the bike, over the rider. In Thailand, Marco Bezzecchi made his debut, a rookie in the queen category, who took first position from Spaniard Jorge Martín at the last minute.

Together with the two riders of the Ducati satellite structures, the leader of the Italian team, Pecco Bagnaia, will sit in the front row. The Italian is the factory’s main asset to win a championship that went awry in Japan a week ago due to an inopportune crash on the final lap of the race. He gets another chance to close the gap with leader Fabio Quartararo, who is 18 points today. The Frenchman won’t stop making magic with his Yamaha, as despite being clearly mechanically inferior, he will start fourth on the grid, wedged between the Italian bikes, with three Ducati up front and three more in the back.

Third contender for the title, Aleix Espargaró, has equaled his worst starting position this year and will start in thirteenth position. It has been a very complicated weekend for the Spanish rider. Despite drawing “a perfect round” in Q1 according to him, he couldn’t even qualify to play Q2. The problems have been the same all weekend, the Aprilia finds no grip when exiting the corners and skids, losing a lot of time when accelerating. His only option is to gain positions at the start and finish as high as possible. The Catalan assumes he will be behind his rivals on Sunday, so he will try to minimize the loss of points. His big ally could be the weather, because if it rains during the race, and in Thailand it could happen at any moment, anything messy will be in his favour.

After being fastest in the first free practice on Friday, many expectations have been placed on the driver from Cervera, as much as he always pushes for them to be lowered. A yellow flag in FP3 forced him to go through Q1, which he solved without any problems as that was not his place. Already in the last Q2, Márquez made a first safety attempt with a used tire, to drive at least one fast lap. He had a new band left for a second attempt where he would give it his all. That was when he lost the rear of his Honda at the last corner of the track and was about to go to the ground. He was able to lift the bike, in one of those house brand rescues and to the right by the way, four arm surgeries.

“It’s the first Grand Prix in a long time where I’m starting to get the most out of the Honda, which is difficult, but I’m starting to ride the way I want. You can see the fears in me, you can see my bike is out of place under braking, but I had never ridden like this in the past year and a half». It’s another message of optimism that Marquez has left after signing eighth place to start from the grid. A week ago in Japan he already showed that he can finish a race with solvency, although he doesn’t see himself fighting the first one yet. For him a realistic position would be to think from fifth to tenth place, although the pace is very even and with Márquez you never know.

Although the queen category is MotoGP, in Thailand the Moto2 race will be lived with frenzy, and it is from the pole of the intermediate category that the local idol Somkiat Chantra will start, who has an animation mode especially for him in this circuit. The Thai has already made history by taking his country’s first World Cup pole and the party could turn into a riot if he takes the podium on Sunday. The best Spaniard in Moto2 is Pedro Acosta, who will start fourth, while leader Augusto Fernández will do so from eighth position and behind his main rival for the title, Japan’s Ogura, who will start third. In Moto3, pole position was taken by Dennis Foggia, with Valencian Jaume Masià in second, and the two Spaniards competing for the title far behind: Izan Guevara starting 11th and Sergio García 20th. The races are held in the morning in peninsular time: the Moto3 race at 07:00, the Moto2 race at 08:20 and the MotoGP race at 10:00.

Source: La Verdad

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