MotoGP Thailand Race Results | Oliveira wins as title race closes up

For round 17 of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship, the season arrives in Thailand. This page will be updated with MotoGP Thailand results throughout the weekend.

Overview

• FP1 - Marc Marquez fastest as Aprilia riders struggle for grip

• FP2 - Johann Zarco ends day one on top as Aprilia rear grip woes continue

• FP3 - Jorge Martin ends practice on top as Marc Marquez knocked out of combined top 10

• Qualifying - Marco Bezzecchi secures maiden MotoGP pole; Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia confirm all-Ducati front row

• Race - Miguel Oliveira wins delayed Thai GP as Francesco Bagnaia reduces points deficit

Race

Following his pole position lap on Saturday afternoon, Marco Bezzecchi was set to start from the front of the grid for the 2022 MotoGP Thai Grand Prix. But, it was not a straightforward start to proceedings.

First, the Moto2 race was red flagged and then cancelled for heavy rain which caused a significant amount of standing water on the circuit. Then, the MotoGP race start was delayed.

Finally, after around 45 minutes of waiting, the pit lane was scheduled to open at 15:35 local time, with a race start time of 15:55 local time and a full race distance of 25 laps. There was then another delay announced, but the warm-up lap went ahead at 15:55 regardless.

Marco Bezzecchi got to the first corner first, but he went wide with Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia emerged in second place. By the end of the first lap, the only non-Ducati rider in the top seven was Marc Marquez in fifth place.

By the end of lap two, Marco Bezzecchi had been ordered to give up a position for his track limits exploitation at the exit of turn one on the first lap. Jack Miller had passed Bagnaia by the time Bezzecchi moved aside, so the Australian took the lead.

Meanwhile, Miguel Oliveira was one the move, and ended the third lap in fourth, setting the fastest lap of the race. A lap later, he was on the back of Bagnaia, at the rear of a quartet with a small gap back to Marc Marquez.

Oliveira demoted Bagnaia back to the rear of that quartet by the end of lap five, as the Portuguese continued his charge to the front. 

When Oliveira passed Bezzecchi in turn three on lap six, he opened the door for Bagnaia to pass his compatriot, and Marquez was soon by the pole sitter, too.

There was finally a change for the lead at the end of lap eight, when Oliveira launched his first assault on Miller, but the Australian responded. Behind them, Marquez was beginning to close in on Bagnaia for third place, and Alex Marquez was making progress, too, up to fifth by the end of lap nine.

The next major move was by Johann Zarco, who set the fastest lap of the race on lap 13, and began his charge from sixth, and a lap later Oliveira hit the front and led his first lap of the race.

Having dropped back from Bagnaia for a few laps, with nine laps to go he re-applied the pressure to the Italian. Bagnaia was in a strong position points-wise, as Aleix Espargaro was 11th after serving a long lap penalty for hitting Brad Binder, and Fabio Quartararo was down outside of the points seemingly devoid of confidence.

Before Marquez could pass Bagnaia, he was passed himself by Johann Zarco, who was charging in search of his first MotoGP win. But he could not find his way past Bagnaia soon enough, meaning with two laps to go the win was to be decided between Oliveira and Miller.

Oliveira led onto the last lap from Miller, who could not get close enough to the Portuguese, meaning Oliveira took the second wet race win of the season.

Miller secured second, ahead of Francesco Bagnaia, who took 16 vital World Championship points to close his deficit to Fabio Quartararo to two points.

Johann Zarco was fourth, giving up on the podium on the last lap, and but holding of Marc Marquez who was fifth. Alex Marquez was beaten to sixth on the last lap by Enea Bastianini, and to seventh by Maverick Vinales, who was strong in the final part of the race. 

Marquez himself finished eighth, ahead of Jorge Martin and Brad Binder, who completed the top 10, while Aleix Espargaro was 11th.

Full Thai MotoGP race results are below.

2022 Thai Grand Prix | Buriram International Circuit | Race Results

Qualifying

Jorge Martin arrived in qualifying as the fastest rider. He set his best time in FP3, but on the other end of the scale were Aprilia. Both of their riders - Maverick Vinales, and title contender Aleix Espargaro - would face Q1.

A great effort from Espargaro had him in a surprise top position in Q1 with two minutes to go, but he was displaced by Marc Marquez and Miguel Oliveira, who were both faster than anyone had been all weekend, securing their respective places in Q2.

Jorge Martin picked up from where he left off in free practice and set the early pace in Q2, and at the end of the first runs it was a Pramac Racing 1-2 with Johann Zarco in second place.

Francesco Bagnaia was ninth after his first run, but bailed out of it early, and that put him out of sync with the rest of the field. He went pole with the second lap of his second run, but there were still two minutes remaining.

Jorge Martin was able to better Bagnaia and take provisional pole position, and then Marco Bezzecchi hit the top for his first ever pole position in MotoGP. Martin remained second, and Bagnaia held onto a front row in third for yet another all-Ducati front row.

In fourth place was Fabio Quartararo, who will fancy his chances from there on Sunday. He is joined on the second row by Johann Zarco and Enea Bastianini, however, who will be determined to make life difficult for the championship leader. 

Jack Miller did not go out for a second run, presumably for a technical issue. He qualified seventh, ahead of Marc Marquez in eighth. Marquez could well have been on the front row, but he made a mistake in the final corner on his final lap, which cost him two tenths, but he saved a soft tyre which could prove valuable for the race. 

Completing tomorrow's third row will be Luca Marini in ninth, ahead of a fourth row of Alex Rins, Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder.

Full Thai MotoGP qualifying results are below.

2022 Thai Grand Prix | Buriram International Circuit | Qualifying Results

FP3

As on Friday, rain was a constant threat on Saturday morning for the MotoGP riders in Thailand. Johann Zarco led at the end of Friday, but a dry start to practice meant Q2 positions were still up for grabs in the final times practice session of the weekend. 

It was a relatively slow start to FP3 on Saturday morning, with most riders still looking at race tyres. There were some games going on with Marc Marquez being followed by Fabio Quartararo, and Quartararo himself then being followed by his main title rival, Francesco Bagnaia. Interestingly, while Marquez was totally unbothered by the presence of Quartararo, the Frenchman was quick to remove Bagnaia from his own slipstream. 

The behaviour from Quartararo with respect to Bagnaia is understandable, but that of Marquez shows his growing confidence. Not only does he not need a tow himself anymore to set a lap time and be consistent, but he is perfectly happy for a rider who next year could well be his main title rival, and this weekend could be one of his main opponents for victory, to just sit in behind him.

Another interesting observation was that the Ducati was not leaping past the Yamaha on the straight between turns one and three. Perhaps the Ducati was running less engine, perhaps their electronics are interfering through the turn two kink, but removing speculation it is positive for Yamaha, especially in view of the next race in Phillip Island, and its fourth-gear final corner. 

At Aprilia, their rear grip issues had not been solved overnight. If anything, the issues seemed more pronounced, although that could also have been symptomatic of its riders pushing too hard to make up for the bike's deficit themselves. Several times both Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales were seen running off track, and especially Vinales was expressing his growing frustration with the situation. 

Neither Espargaro nor Vinales made the top 10. Instead, the final combined practice times were topped by Jorge Martin, while several riders had their final flying laps disturbed by a yellow flag for Jack Miller at turn two. 

It did not disturb Brad Binder, though, who went sixth with his final lap, and knocked out Marc Marquez, who ran wide on his final flyer at the final corner. 

As well as Martin and Binder, Jack Miller, Johann Zarco, Francesco Bagnaia, Fabio Quartararo, Alex Rins, Enea Bastianini, Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini all made it into Q2 direct from free practice. 

Full Thailand MotoGP combined free practice results are below.

2022 Thai Grand Prix | Buriram International Circuit | Combined Free Practice Results

FP2

Marc Marquez came into the second session of the weekend in Thailand as the fastest rider, having topped Friday morning's FP1. Conditions remained dry for FP2, which was unexpected, and meant there would be a second chance for those riders who failed to make the top 10 in FP1 to do so in FP2. 

Marquez continued to set the pace early in FP2, as well, although after 20 minutes he was replaced by Francesco Bagnaia, who with two dry sessions could make his more usual progress through the course of the day after finishing the morning in sixth. 

The middle part of the session consisted of riders testing race tyres and setups for what might be their final chance of the weekend before the race. Similarly, by the time the final 10 minutes arrived, there was a chance that could have been the final chance to get in the top 10, so as in FP1 the time attack was all-important.

The first shot was fired by Jorge Martin, who hit the top of the combined times with six minutes to go, before the times began to scroll. When it all shook out, Johann Zarco was fastest, ahead of the aforementioned Bagnaia and Jorge Martin, who completed the top three. 

Marc Marquez was fourth, ahead of Fabio Quartararo, Jack Miller, Luca Marini, Miguel Oliveira, Alex Rins and Franco Morbidelli, who completed the top 10. 

Aprilia's struggles from the morning continued, and they finished Friday with Aleix Espargaro in 13th and Maverick Vinales in 15th. 

Full combined free practice times from the Thai MotoGP are below.

2022 Thai Grand Prix | Buriram International Circuit | FP1 + FP2 Combined Results

FP1

A week on from a dramatic Japanese Grand Prix, MotoGP arrived in Thailand for the 17th round of the 2022 World Championship, with Fabio Quartararo enjoying an 18-point advantage over Francesco Bagnaia in the Riders' Championship. 

Important things to note ahead of the weekend include the return of Michelin's heat dissipation rear tyre, that was last used in Austria, and before that in Indonesia. It means less rear grip but more rear support, which Fabio Quartararo and Yamaha generally like, and which in Austria seemed to exaggerate the straight-line braking issues of Aprilia and Aleix Espargaro. 

Additionally, coming into Friday there were mixed conditions. Moto3 practice was fully wet, but by the end of Moto2 practice the track was ready for slicks. With rain a threat for the whole weekend, the times in FP1 could prove crucial in deciding who goes directly through to Q2 from free practice.

Johann Zarco set the early pace on Friday morning, and within 15 minutes he was within 0.6 seconds of the race lap record from 2019. The technology and engineering of the bikes has moved on a lot in the last three years, and so even with a track that was 'green' from rain and a lack of track action in recent times the top riders - and those who had been to Buriram with a MotoGP bike before - were able to find a strong rhythm quickly. 

The final 10 minutes were all about time attacks, and Marc Marquez attacked the best. Six days on from his first pole in three seasons, he topped possibly the most important FP1 of the season, at the track where he won his most recent world title in 2019. 

Behind him, Fabio Quartararo - who finished second to Marquez on that day in 2019 - was second, ahead of last week's winner Jack Miller, Luca Marini, and Alex Rins who completed the top five.

Rounding out the top six was Francesco Bagnaia - who will be hoping to make the most of any wet track time this weekend to improve his feeling in those conditions - while Miguel Oliveira, Franco Morbidelli (further proof of Yamaha's preference of the stronger Michelin rear tyre), Enea Bastianini and Jorge Martin completed the top 10. 

Aleix Espargaro had a difficult morning, finishing 16th, and with Maverick Vinales only 17th it seems that Aprilia are once again struggling with that stronger rear tyre that caused them problems in Austria.

Full MotoGP FP1 times from Buriram are below.

2022 Thai Grand Prix | Buriram International Circuit | FP1 Results

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