Thailand MotoGP, Buriram – Free Practice (1) Results

Updated with a quote from Danilo Petrucci after his first session on the Suzuki GSX-RR.

* Beginner

Official Buriram MotoGP Records:
Best lap:
Fabio Quartararo FRA Yamaha 1m 29.719s (2019)
Fastest race lap:
Marc Marquez SPA Honda 1m 30.904s (2019)

Marc Marquez started free practice for the 2022 Thailand MotoGP with a minor crash but finished at the top of the Buriram timesheets.

The eight-time world champion, who clinched his first pole in three years at the wet Motegi last weekend, snatched top spot from reigning champion Fabio Quartararo during a frantic end to the session, which saw just 0.098s for the top four riders.

After raining almost continuously for the past two days due to Storm Noru, the sky cleared slightly on Friday morning.

A wet but dry track for Moto3 evolved into slick tires during the Moto2 session, although some wet patches were still present as the premier class took to the track for the first time since 2019.

Marc Marquez – winner of the previous Thai Grand Prix – and Miguel Oliveira were caught early by crashes, Marquez going too far and losing the front of his RCV on the (probably damp) blue paint before remounting and continuing without a pit stop.

Caught on his very first flying laps! @marcmarquez93 loses the front after overheating at Turn 3 #ThaiGP pic.twitter.com/j6Y7Zj54DT

— MotoGP (@MotoGP) 09/30/2022

Pramac Ducati’s Johann Zarco led Francesco Bagnaia and Quartararo as the riders fitted soft rear tires for a late attack in the event of more rain, which remains a threat for the remainder of the weekend.

While Quartararo started the weekend strong in both race pace and time attack, title rivals Francesco Bagnaia and Aleix Espargaro had a more complicated session.

Bagnaia had suddenly dropped from second to twelfth place with two minutes remaining, putting him in danger of missing out on a top ten finish. The Italian then climbed back to sixth only to be pushed back to 13th before returning to sixth on his very last lap.

That saw an impressive Cal Crutchlow finish 11th, while Aleix Espargaro was 16th for Aprilia (but only +0.564s) and will also have to hope for more dry weather to try and finish in the top ten by the end of FP3 advance and avoid visiting Qualification 1.

Danilo Petrucci: The Suzuki is such a beautiful bike

Danilo Petrucci, who was drafted into Suzuki as a late replacement for the injured Joan Mir, finished his first MotoGP session since last year’s Valencia final with a best lap time of a respectable 2.183s for Marquez – putting him ahead of both Darryn Binder and before Tetsuta Nagashima.

“I’m really glad I tried the Suzuki GSX-RR. I was so nervous because the bike is different than anything I’ve ridden in the past, but it’s such a beautiful bike that I really enjoyed it,” said Petrucci.

“Really, I didn’t expect the bike to be that good. Certainly everything is very difficult because the other guys go very, very fast and I still have to understand how to ride the bike and adapt my riding style to that, but I’m really happy and I didn’t expect to go so fast from the start be.”

Fabio Quartararo takes an extended 18-point lead in the World Championship over Francesco Bagnaia into the last four rounds after the Italian’s last-lap accident at Motegi.

The Japanese Grand Prix was also a race to forget for Aleix Espargaro, who slipped 25 points from the lead after technical problems forced a last-minute bike swap and dropped him to 16th place.

The last time MotoGP went to Buriram in 2019, Marc Marquez – on pole at Motegi last weekend – narrowly held off rookie Quartararo to secure his eighth world title, while Maverick Vinales finished a podium in just 1.3 seconds .

MotoGP welcomes back Danilo Petrucci this weekend. Fresh from second place in the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship, the two-time premier class winner (with Ducati) is filling in for the injured Joan Mir at Suzuki.

Petrucci will not be the only replacement on track as HRC test rider Tetsuta Nagashima, who crashed on his MotoGP race debut at Motegi last weekend, has been called up at LCR Honda in place of injured compatriot Takaaki Nakagami.

Wet weather is forecast during the Buriram event.

As with the other end-of-season ‘flyaways’ off the calendar since the Covid restrictions in 2019, ten riders at Buriram have no MotoGP racing experience: Brad Binder, Alex Marquez, Jorge Martin, Enea Bastianini , Luca Marini and more this year’s rookies Marco Bezzecchi, Fabio di Giannantonio, Darryn Binder, Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez.

Thailand MotoGP schedule

Friday 09/30

3am – Moto3 FP1

3.55am – Moto2 FP1

4.50am – MotoGP FP1

7:15 am – Moto3 FP2

8.10am – Moto2 FP2

9.05am – MotoGP FP2

Saturday October 1st

3am – Moto3 FP3

3.55am – Moto2 FP3

4.50am – MotoGP FP3

6.35am – Moto3 Q1

7am – Moto3 Q2

7.30am – Moto2 Q1

7.55am – Moto2 Q2

8.25am – MotoGP FP4

9.05am – MotoGP Q1

9.30am – MotoGP Q2

Sunday October 2nd

4am – Moto3 warm up

4:20 am – Moto2 warm-up

4.40am – MotoGP warm-up

6am – Moto3 race

7:20 am – Moto2 race

9am – MotoGP race