The Portuguese Miguel Oliveira (Ducati) has prevailed this Sunday in the MotoGP race of the Grand Prix of Thailand, sixteenth test of the World Motorcycle Championship, in which the Girona Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) finished seventh. the italian Tony Arbolino (Kalex) won a rain-stopped Moto2 race and Spain’s Izan Guevara (GasGas) will have his first ‘match ball’ for the Moto3 title in Australia after a session in which Sergio García Dols (GasGas) has gone to the ground and the Italian has won Dennis Foggia (Honda).
Chaos due to rain in Buriram, which has returned to the championship after two cancellations due to the pandemic, leaves the top three drivers in the premier class on just 20 points, with the French fabio quartararo (Yamaha) still leading, but besieged by the momentum of its main adversaries.
The Niçard, who came to treasure 91 points ahead of the second and who now accumulates 219 points, was only able to finish seventeenth and did not add up in the Thai circuit, where the Italian Francesco ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia (Ducati) took advantage of the team orders at Ducati to get on the podium and stay just two units away from ‘El Diable’.
He has also swallowed air Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia); the one from Granollers has gained five valuable points by finishing eleventh and remains a contender for the title, 20 points behind Quartararo. All three Grands Prix to decide the championship: Australia, Malaysia and Valencia.
The tension was felt on the starting grid, where Aleix Espargaró tried to convince, without success, his teammates and race management that the race could not be contested due to the poor visibility between turns 3 and 4. “No you can’t see anything, you can’t run,” he exclaimed.
However, everything started an hour late and in Italian Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati) defending its pole position; a penalty in the transalpine for exceeding the limits of the track has left the race leader to the Australian Jack Miller (Ducati).
Aleix was also weighed down shortly after with a ‘long lap’ due to irresponsible driving by throwing the South African Brad Binder (KTM) off the track, and he dropped to fourteenth position.
On lap 15, Portugal’s Miguel Oliveira (KTM) took command of the race as the track dried out, with fourth-placed Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) battling for the podium with Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati).
Frenchman Johann Zarco (Ducati) got between the two and threatened to take third place from ‘Pecco’, but team orders came into play. Thus, Bagnaia was able to complete a podium that was headed by Oliveira, with his second win of the course, and in which Miller finished second.
Marc Márquez finished fifth, while the Girona Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) finished seventh, ahead of Alex Márquez (Honda) and Jorge Martín (Ducati). Alex Rins (Suzuki) finished thirteenth, Pol Espargaró (Repsol Honda) fourteenth and Raúl Fernández (KTM), fifteenth.
