Thailand MotoGP, Buriram – Free Practice (3) Results

* 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)

Jorge Martin leads Jack Miller during a dry Free Practice 3 for the Thailand MotoGP at Buriram, while Marc Marquez and Aleix Espargaro miss out on a top ten place and have to fight for the last two Q2 places in the first qualifying session.

Marquez stayed comfortably inside the combined top ten until the Repsol Honda rider went out of shape at the last corner on his final flying lap.

Jack Miller, just past #93, cornered around the RCV on the exit and secured second place behind Martin before the Australian lost the front of his works Desmosedici in the hairpin a few corners later.

Johann Zarco and Francesco Bagnaia finished third and fourth on combined practice times despite being in almost half of the field that failed to improve this morning.

Yamaha’s World Champion Fabio Quartararo was third in the session and fifth on combined times behind the Ducatis. KTM’s Brad Binder, Suzuki’s Alex Rins and then Ducati satellite riders Enea Bastianini, Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini complete the straight Qualifying 2 rider.

After a difficult Friday with grip issues, Aprilia riders Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales continued to struggle with grip issues this morning. Vinales was visibly frustrated when he repeatedly went too far.

Yamaha test rider Cal Crutchlow, competing in the third event of his comeback in six races in place of retired Andrea Dovizioso at RNF, injured his right ankle in a huge highside on Friday afternoon.

Danilo Petrucci started his second day on the Suzuki MotoGP machine by closing the gap to 1.6s.

Raul Fernandez didn’t drive with problems.

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