BURIRAM: Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia put in a sure-footed display at a rain-drenched Buriram International Circuit as he romped to victory in the Thailand Grand Prix on Sunday and slashed his gap to championship rival Jorge Martin down to 17 points.

Reigning champion Bagnaia took advantage of errors by Pramac Rac­ing’s Martin and Marc Marquez of Gresini Racing to take the chequered flag and clinch his ninth win of the season.

Martin finished second while Gas­Gas Tech3 rookie Pedro Acosta was third.

“This morning after the warm-up, I wasn’t that happy, but I want to say thanks to my team,” Bagnaia said.

“We looked at the data, we understood what to do. There was more water on the asphalt and it was better for me. I’m so, so happy.”

Martin’s second-placed finish moves him up to 453 points while Bagnaia is second in the standings on 436, with two races left.

Italian Bagnaia began the race in pole but Martin took the lead heading into turn one with a trademark rocket start.

However, the world championship leader, who had trouble navigating the treacherous conditions and could not find his best form on the slick tarmac, ran off track in the fifth lap and handed the advantage to the two-times champion.

Martin’s mistake dropped him down into third behind Bagnaia and Marquez, and he was forced to be content with staring at the plume of water kicked up by Marquez’s rear tyre for the next few laps.

Six-times world champion Marquez stepped on the gas midway through the race and quickly moved within half a second of Bagnaia, setting off alarm bells for the Ducati rider.

Bagnaia was able to thwart the Spaniard’s attempts to dislodge him from the lead and breathed a sigh of relief when Marquez crashed in the 15th lap.

By the time Marquez crashed, Martin had already lost ground on Bagnaia and there was little he could do to prevent the Italian’s win.

Marquez was able to climb back onto his bike and rejoin the race, finishing 12th.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2024