Just 0.173 covers the front row, Miller and Ogura put Yamaha and Aprilia on the chase in first qualifying shootout thriller of the season
The first gloves-off track action of the season lit up the Chang International Circuit as the PT Grand Prix of Thailand’s qualifying sessions headlined Saturday morning. With big names needing to come through from Q1, it was always going to be a blockbuster affair but the form book came true right at the head of the field with Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) snatching a maiden factory Ducati pole on his debut for the team.
Q1 SCRAMBLE: Pecco in close company
The first part of qualifying? Get through to Q2; having been caught out at the end of Practice yesterday, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) had to clear Q1 and cement himself in the 12-rider shootout. After two laps, he was already straight down and on pace that would have been more than good enough on Friday to put him straight through and thus bagged a slot to move to Q2.
After the first runs were done, Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) was sitting pretty but with the second half of the session to go, anything was possible. The #49 was shuffled back due to some impressive surprises; Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP™) put in two laps to propel himself into contention and despite late attempts by Di Giannantonio and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), the Australian held on and partnered ex-teammate Bagnaia into Q2. Home-hero Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda LCR) goes from P21 for his home debut Sprint, before his penalty on Sunday.
Q2 SHOOTOUT: Marquez vs Marquez vs Bagnaia
The 15 minutes fired up with Pecco the first rider to bank a lap time but it wasn’t as quick as his Q1 effort; teammate Marc Marquez did however rocket into P1 with a lap time good enough to challenge – but not quite surpass – Pecco’s lap record from 2024. Brother Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP™) was right behind the #93 whilst rookie sensation Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Racing MotoGP) was a surprise in third as the first runs came to conclusion. Pecco had slipped to P5 ahead of Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) but a frenetic showdown was building for the last six minutes.
FINAL MOMENTS: late improvers and yellow flags
Having come through Q1 with the #63, Miller followed him to set a stonking lap time, good enough for the second row in P4. Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) went onto row two too with P6 whilst double MotoGP Champion Bagnaia responded and put himself in P3. With just less than three minutes to go, Bezzecchi then fell at Turn 3, bringing out the yellow flags for a brief moment.
As quickly as they were withdrawn, they were back out for a second time due to a fall for Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol), hampering Marc Marquez’s latest attempt. Even with pole seemingly sorted, he had one final lap to try and set a new lap record and had his brother ahead on track as a reference. In the end, it wasn’t to be and the #93 took a maiden factory Ducati pole ahead of his brother in P2 and teammate in P3.
THE CHARGE BEHIND: Miller and Ogura steal headlines
With a very impressive return to Prima Pramac and indeed on their debut with Yamaha, Miller took P4 and his best qualifying result since he was P5 in Austria last year. Ogura was an astounding P5 on his debut, the best debut qualifying for a rookie since Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) in 2019, and top Aprilia, with Morbidelli just 0.037s adrift of the rookie in sixth.
A late lap from Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) sees him as best KTM in heading up the third row in P7, with Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing MotoGP) in the middle of the third row and with a best Buriram qualifying performance, ahead of Bezzecchi who will have hoped for more. Quartararo, Joan Mir and Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) rounded out the running and will be in a fierce battle for points.
The time has come, the stage is set. Now all that’s left to do is race. Join us for the Tissot Sprint at 15:00 (UTC+7)!
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