Michael Scott | October 6, 2018
2018 Thailand MotoGP Saturday Results
Nothing could stop Marc Marquez from taking his 50th premier-class pole – not even a tumble in the morning that meant he had to join the lesser riders in Q1 for only the fourth time in his career.
2018 Thailand MotoGP Saturday Results
The Repsol Honda rider had run out of time in the crucial Saturday morning FP3 after problems with one of his bikes, and then slipped off trying to make up for it at the finish. “This can happen, when you are working for the race,” he explained.
Naturally enough he smashed it in Q1, going even faster than he managed in the subsequent Q2. But his second-session was still good enough to stay an eye-blink one-hundredth clear of the best of the rest.
Best of the rest? Valentino Rossi, belying the slump afflicting Yamaha, as he and MoviStar Yamaha team-mate Maverick Vinales have been rapid throughout, at a track which on paper (as Rossi said on Thursday) “does not suit our bike”.
Having proved the opposite, he said: “I felt good on the bike from yesterday, and today we did a modification and followed the right way. It looks like at this track we can use the tyres in the right way, and in FP4 I also did a good race pace.”
Last on the front row was Andrea Dovizioso’s factory Ducati, after being on top in free practice. He was just over a tenth down on pole, and laughing at the previous assumption that this was obviously a Ducati track. “It is normal for the competitors to say something like that.” The first part, with long straights and slow corners, was good for the bike, he admitted, but the second more technical section not so much. “It’s strange. You have to keep a lot of angle, and the consumption of the tyre is really high.”
Times have been close throughout in the first time at the baking-hot 4.554-km Chang circuit outside Buriram in the north-east of Thailand; with Q2’s top 12 inside nine tenths of a second, with pole at 1’30.088.
Vinales moved through at the finish to lead row two ahead of Cal Crutchlow’s LCR Honda and Andrea Iannone, on the better of the Ecstar Suzukis. Dani Pedrosa, whose Repsol Honda had set the pace at pre-season tests, was seventh, less than four tenths slower than his team-mate, ahead of Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha) and Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Ducati).
Second Pramac rider Jack Miller had led the list at one point, but ended up tenth, heading row four from Alex Rins (Suzuki) and Alvaro Bautista (Angel Nieto Ducati).
Franco Morbidelli (ED-VDS Honda) was best of the rest, deposed from a trip from Q1 to Q2 only at the last gasp by Rins.
PTT THAILAND GRAND PRIX
MotoGP Qualifying Classification 2018
Buriram, Saturday, October 06, 2018
1 |
93 |
Marc MARQUEZ |
SPA |
Repsol Honda Team |
Honda |
326.2 |
1’30.088 |
|
2 |
46 |
Valentino ROSSI |
ITA |
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP |
Yamaha |
325.8 |
1’30.099 |
0.011 / 0.011 |
3 |
4 |
Andrea DOVIZIOSO |
ITA |
Ducati Team |
Ducati |
328.4 |
1’30.227 |
0.139 / 0.128 |
4 |
25 |
Maverick VIÑALES |
SPA |
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP |
Yamaha |
326.4 |
1’30.328 |
0.240 / 0.101 |
5 |
35 |
Cal CRUTCHLOW |
GBR |
LCR Honda CASTROL |
Honda |
328.4 |
1’30.356 |
0.268 / 0.028 |
6 |
29 |
Andrea IANNONE |
ITA |
Team SUZUKI ECSTAR |
Suzuki |
325.0 |
1’30.419 |
0.331 / 0.063 |
7 |
26 |
Dani PEDROSA |
SPA |
Repsol Honda Team |
Honda |
329.3 |
1’30.458 |
0.370 / 0.039 |
8 |
5 |
Johann ZARCO |
FRA |
Monster Yamaha Tech 3 |
Yamaha |
325.8 |
1’30.471 |
0.383 / 0.013 |
9 |
9 |
Danilo PETRUCCI |
ITA |
Alma Pramac Racing |
Ducati |
330.0 |
1’30.599 |
0.511 / 0.128 |
10 |
43 |
Jack MILLER |
AUS |
Alma Pramac Racing |
Ducati |
323.0 |
1’30.660 |
0.572 / 0.061 |
11 |
42 |
Alex RINS |
SPA |
Team SUZUKI ECSTAR |
Suzuki |
323.1 |
1’30.738 |
0.650 / 0.078 |
12 |
19 |
Alvaro BAUTISTA |
SPA |
Angel Nieto Team |
Ducati |
326.3 |
1’30.976 |
0.888 / 0.23 |
13 |
21 |
Franco MORBIDELLI |
ITA |
EG 0,0 Marc VDS |
Honda |
321.7 |
1’30.923 |
0.892 / 0.002 |
14 |
30 |
Takaaki NAKAGAMI |
JPN |
LCR Honda IDEMITSU |
Honda |
318.6 |
1’30.995 |
0.964 / 0.072 |
15 |
38 |
Bradley SMITH |
GBR |
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing |
KTM |
321.0 |
1’31.207 |
1.176 / 0.212 |
16 |
41 |
Aleix ESPARGARO |
SPA |
Aprilia Racing Team Gresini |
Aprilia |
323.1 |
1’31.243 |
1.212 / 0.036 |
17 |
17 |
Karel ABRAHAM |
CZE |
Angel Nieto Team |
Ducati |
321.4 |
1’31.374 |
1.343 / 0.131 |
18 |
55 |
Hafizh SYAHRIN |
MAL |
Monster Yamaha Tech 3 |
Yamaha |
320.1 |
1’31.389 |
1.358 / 0.015 |
19 |
44 |
Pol ESPARGARO |
SPA |
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing |
KTM |
321.0 |
1’31.399 |
1.368 / 0.010 |
20 |
10 |
Xavier SIMEON |
BEL |
Reale Avintia Racing |
Ducati |
324.3 |
1’31.686 |
1.655 / 0.287 |
21 |
81 |
Jordi TORRES |
SPA |
Reale Avintia Racing |
Ducati |
326.8 |
1’31.819 |
1.788 / 0.133 |
22 |
12 |
Thomas LUTHI |
SWI |
EG 0,0 Marc VDS |
Honda |
320.6 |
1’31.830 |
1.799 / 0.011 |
23 |
45 |
Scott REDDING |
GBR |
Aprilia Racing Team Gresini |
Aprilia |
321.3 |
1’31.835 |
1.804 / 0.005 |
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