Huge wrap from opening day of MotoGP practice in Thailand

MotoGP 2022 – Round 17 – Thailand

After two sessions back in business in Buriram, it’s incredibly close at the top at the OR Thailand Grand Prix. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) just took it by 0.018, with Championship challenger Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) the rider just denied the top spot but taking second. Jorge Martin completed an all-Ducati top three, and made it both Pramacs in the upper echelons.

Johann Zarco – P1

“Super happy with the second session, I made a good time, I was consistent and fast. I had a great feeling with the bike and I could do important things. It was important to do a good performance because if it rains tomorrow we will be in Q2.”

Francesco Bagnaia – P2

“I’m happy because we were able to solve some of the problems we had in Japan, and being able to improve so much in the afternoon was very satisfying. In the dry, we showed that we had a very fast race pace, and we were also competitive in the time attack. Even if it rains tomorrow, I am still confident that we can do well: thanks to the steps forward we made today, I think we can be fast in the wet as well.“

Jorge Martín – P3

“I feel very good, I was very competitive. Finally we seem to have found that step forward that we were missing. I don’t know if it will rain tomorrow but even if it does I feel confident that I can do well.”

World Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) had a solid day on the timesheets in fifth, right behind one rider with a little fighting talk on Friday: Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team). The number 93 rated his chances of a podium highly if we raced on Day 1, and was fastest in FP1 despite a slide off. Quartararo and Marquez both set their best laps in FP1, too.

Marc Marquez – P4

“I am very happy today; we achieved our target which was improving myself between races. Today I went out and I felt better than Japan, in Japan I felt better than Aragon – so step by step we are improving. We were competitive with new and used tyres and the progression is there to see. 

“I’ve used a lot of energy today and there’s the chance I have a bit of a drop in the weekend, but let’s see. The rain might help but I am also feeling competitive in the dry. It was also interesting to see the calendar today, I am excited for the new races – India is an important place for all the manufacturers and especially Honda, and I am looking forward to seeing all the MotoGP fans there.”

Fabio Quartararo – P5

“Today was good, especially this morning‘s session. This afternoon it was great too, but unfortunately during the last time attack I had two yellow flags, and I made a mistake on the last lap. But apart from that, I think that our pace is okay, especially on a new medium tyre. I think we have a good chance to battle for the podium, but so do many other riders. We’ll have to see what the weather will be like tomorrow, and then we go from there.”

On the other side of the coin, both the riders third and fourth in the standings are currently heading for Q1 and outside the top ten. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) was 13th and teammate Maverick Viñales 15th as the new RS-GP tackles Thailand for the first time, and Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP) was 11th on Friday – missing out by just 0.025.

While it rained on and off during Friday, the track was well and truly dry for MotoGP FP2. That gave competitors the opportunity to work on their race pace and while Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) was top for the session on a 1:31.088 with 10 minutes to go, there still had been no change to the combined top 10. That would change once the time attacks started, but even then, only half the 24-strong field improved on their FP1 pace. Martin was first to shift the benchmark, then Bagnaia and finally Zarco.

Japanese GP winner Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) is sixth-fastest overall. He was frustrated while trying to go underneath Tetsuta Nagashima (LCR Honda Idemitsu) in the closing minutes, but his FP1 effort was good enough to provisionally book a spot in Q2.

Jack Miller – P6

“We were expecting two wet sessions today, but with this tropical weather, it is always difficult to predict the weather, and in the end, we were lucky and were able to ride in the dry all the time. I felt comfortable on the bike right away, and I struggled a little more in the afternoon because of the wind. We worked mainly with the soft tire, and our pace is good. If the conditions are similar tomorrow, we will also try to understand the behaviour of the other compounds.

“In the last minutes of FP2, I could not improve because of the yellow flags, but we know we still have some margin to step forward tomorrow. I am satisfied with this first day and confident we can qualify well here in Buriram.”

Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) took seventh on combined times, ahead of Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Rins, and a much improved Friday position for Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP).

Luca Marini – P7

“A productive Friday: considering the weather forecast for the weekend, we worked hard and collected as much info as possible on the tires for the race. Let’s go back to the data now to make a step forward in FP3: on the time attack I have room of improvements, but a lot will depend on the weather.”

Alex Rins – P9

“I’m super happy with today’s work. My pace was good and I was feeling fast in FP1, but in FP2 the track conditions changed due to the heat, so it was hard to improve in the afternoon. Luckily, I held onto the Top 10. Today we had dry sessions, but maybe it will be a different story tomorrow! Anyway, this track is very enjoyable and I’m feeling good. I don’t really mind what the weather does, I feel we can be competitive.”

Franco Morbidelli – P10

“It was a positive day. We managed to get into the top 10, which is always the aim, and today we achieved it. We’re a bit close to the danger zone because we’re tenth, so it’s important to step it up tomorrow to secure a top-10 result again. Apart from that, I had a decent day. Also pace-wise I felt pretty decent this afternoon. Unfortunately, during FP2’s time attack, the performance didn’t come. I didn’t have a good feeling with the tyres. We are checking it now, but anyway I had a good Friday.”

Enea Bastianini – P11

“I’m not satisfied because we should have been in Q2, but we didn’t improve in the afternoon. We need to work on the electronics and find something in the fourth split, where we lose too much time. We now have to hope for a dry FP3.”

Cal Crutchlow (WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team) was one crasher at Turn 7, and that also triggered a relatively long yellow flag in Sector 3 near the end of FP2, affecting some. Crutchlow walked away in some pain after losing the rear and being flicked from his YZR-M1 in what was his second crash of the session, he was given the all clear at the Medical Centre.

Cal Crutchlow – P12

“Obviously today was not an ideal day, ending the day with X-ray of my right ankle that I badly broke some years ago. At the moment, I have some severe pain in my ankle but the X-ray came back negative, this can also be swelling on the ankle at the moment but it seems a little bit different from the place I broke it before, we have to continue and try to rest, ice the ankle and see how it is.” 

“I felt very good today on the bike in FP1 when we were pushing for the lap time. I made one mistake in the lap which would have meant I would have been in the top 10. And this afternoon I was going for the lap time, I was pushing because I felt good with the bike, unfortunately I had too much angle, and that’s what happens when you ride a MotoGP bike and you’re pushing. 

“Honestly speaking, I felt good and I feel that my pace is really good and I would be able to fight this weekend for a good position again. 

“The problem is right now, we will have to see the extent of the injuries because I have some injuries on my elbows, back and most of my body but we will see. Overall, the team did a good job and I’m happy with the way things are going. It was a shame to crash at the end of the session but we will see what will happen tomorrow.” 

Also hitting the floor during the afternoon were Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) at Turn 3, Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP) also at Turn 3 in a separate incident, and Darryn Binder (WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team) at Turn 7 – riders okay.

Aleix Espargaro – P13

“I can’t be disappointed because I’m riding well. In the phases where performance depends on me such as braking and turns, we are not slow at all. The problem is the grip. Coming out of turns we lose a lot of time sliding around and that basically costs us the entire gap. This is our limitation at the moment, so we need to focus all our efforts on this.“

Marco Bezzecchi – P14

“A good first day even if I struggled a lot in the FP1. Well then in the afternoon session we were able to make a nice step forward on the race pace. In the fastest lap I was not perfect, I still have to work on it a little bit. We give our best in FP3, always with a look on the weather.”

Maverick Vinales – P15

“In the last few races we weren’t at the performance level that we expected to be at and we need to work toward understanding why. I have an incredible feeling with the front but we’re lacking traction when grip is less than optimum. If we look at the times, I only lost 6 tenths, despite having an iffy feeling, so we need to analyse all the data well and find the right compromise in terms of settings.”

Fabio DiGiannantonio – P16

“I was a lot happier about the morning session. In the afternoon, the feeling changed radically: the bike was a lot more nervous and surely we’ll have to work on the electronics to improve on corner exit. I also crashed at turn three, but generally speaking I wasn’t comfortable on the bike.”

Pol Espargaro – P17

“Our situation is pretty similar to normal where we are searching for more grip. We especially need to try and improve our feeling with new tyres for the time attack tomorrow and Qualifying. When we have a lot of grip we can be fast, but we need to find the grip. Let’s see what happens tomorrow, especially if it’s wet we can make a step.”

Álex Márquez – P19

“First day here in Thailand and in the morning we struggled a bit with the set-up and electronics. We haven’t been here since 2019 and also it’s my first time here on a MotoGP bike and also for our electronics mapping guy, so everything was a little bit difficult in the morning.

“But in the afternoon we made quite a good step, we still need to improve and find something more but the feeling was much better and tomorrow morning we’ll try to do a good lap. I’ll try to put everything together and also improve our base. It was not a perfect day, but it was a positive day overall.“

Remy Gardner – P20

“We struggled today with the medium at the front and it was tough to brake. For some reason it is not working for us here, so we are trying to understand why, although all KTM riders seemed to be in the same situation this afternoon. We should have probably tried the soft at least but the track conditions were difficult today. We will see what tomorrow has in store for us.”

Darryn Binder – P21

“It’s good to be back here in Buriram, I really enjoyed riding the track on the MotoGP bike. This morning, we just focused on learning the track and just doing as many laps as we could on one set of tyres. Getting ready for the afternoon and just hoping for the weather to be good to us, we got really lucky and we were able to get two dry sessions and I made a really good improvement from FP1 to FP2.

“But unfortunately right at at the end when I was trying to do the final time attack, I crashed on the hot lap. A very strange crash and an unfortunate way to end the day but I’m happy with the work we did in FP2. I feel like we’ve got some good potentials on this track and hoping that tomorrow we can make some more steps forward.”

Raul Fernandez – P22

“I enjoyed riding on the bike today, especially that everyone was quite close to each other at one point. I was feeling a bit unwell though, probably because of food poisoning, so I was not very comfortable on the bike with a stomach ache. I did not have much sleep last night and felt really tired today.

“Anyway, apart from that, I think that I have margin to improve because during my two fastest laps today, I went wide on one and got the yellow flag on the second one. If this had not happened, I think that I could have been riding in 1’30.9 or 1’31.0, which will be our target for tomorrow.”

Tetsuta Nagashima – P23

“I’m quite positive about today’s job. I’m really happy to be working with the LCR team, they did a really nice job today and also their guys are very friendly. In FP1 and FP2 the position was not good, but the feeling was good. I have to focus on changing my riding style, but I am improving and let’s see what we can do tomorrow. I hope tomorrow we have more good weather like today and it’s not raining.”

Danilo Petrucci – P24

“I’m happy because my performance actually improved from one session to the other, but on my flying laps I caught yellow flags and then on my last lap I touched the green so I lost those laps, which meant I didn’t improve my time on paper. I was a bit upset not to climb a few places, but in general I’m so happy and I love the feel of the bike. I was really nervous to try the bike this morning, but it’s so nice to ride, and you get so much feeling from it, I’m really proud to be on it. Everyone in MotoGP is really fast, so it’s not any easy task to be up there, but I’m enjoying myself.”

Thailand MotoGP Friday Combined Practice Times

MotoGP Championship Points Standings

Moto2

Inde GASGAS Aspar Team’s Jake Dixon is the rider to beat after Friday’s running at the OR Thailand Grand Prix. His 1:36.280 puts him 0.173 clear of Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools Speed Up), with World Championship leader Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) third quickest despite a late spill.

Japanese GP winner Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) finished seventh and, in the event of rain on Saturday morning, he too is safely through to Q2.

Fernandez topped FP1 before all but three riders improved in the afternoon, and Dixon took to the top. Lopez also improved after a technical problem in FP1, and Fernandez crashed late in the session, but rider ok and still third overall.

Home hero Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) dusted himself off from an early crash to up the pace and end the day fourth.

Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) takes fifth ahead of Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team), with Ogura on a 1:36.725 in P7. Rounding out the top 10 were Jorge Navarro (Flexbox HP40), Jeremy Alcoba (Liqui Moly Intact GP), and Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools Speed Up).

Filip Salac (Gresini Racing Moto2) is provisionally into Q2 also despite a spill at Turn 3 with five minutes to go, ahead of Albert Arenas (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team), Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team), and Cameron Beaubier (American Racing).

Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40), however, is outside the top 14 after a second crash of the day when he lost the front at Turn 12. The Spaniard is 16th as it stands.

Thailand Moto2 Friday Combined Practice Times

Moto2 Championship Points Standings

Moto3

After a damp start, Ayumu Sasaki capitalised in FP2 for Moto3 and set a 1:43.503 to head the eidl ahead of compatriot Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) on a 1:43.694. The duo were together over sixth tenths clear of the rest, with Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse) leading that rest in third on a 1:44.330.

World Championship leader and Motegi winner Izan Guevara was seventh, six positions ahead of fellow Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team rider – and nearest rival for the title – Sergio Garcia.

Moto3 was the only class which had not enjoyed any dry running on Friday morning, but halfway through FP2 the sun then made a cameo and the lap times began to tumble.

Suzuki looked like getting the sweep of the Friday sessions – a wet one and a dry one (eventually) – when he set a 1:43.694 in the last two minutes before the chequered flag.But Sasaki struck late to end the day 0.191 seconds clear of the Leopard Honda rider and 0.827 seconds up on Rossi.

Red Bull KTM Ajo teammates Daniel Holgado and Jaume Masia rounded out the top five, while Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Deniz Öncü was a commendable sixth as he grits his teeth with an injured finger after his highside in Warm Up five days ago at Motegi.

With the possibility of rain on Saturday morning, it was important for Guevara to make the top 14 cut-off for Q2 by claiming seventh on a 1:44.570. Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team), Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing), and Scott Ogden (VisionTrack Racing Team) completed the top 10, ahead of Kaito Toba (CIP Green Power), Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers) and Garcia.

Xavier Artigas (CFMoto Racing PruestelGP) just 0.004 seconds slower in 14th, and Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) missing out by only 0.007 seconds. Also outside the top 14 for now is John McPhee (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) in 16th and Joel Kelso in P17.

Thailand Moto3 Friday Combined Practice Times

Moto3 Championship Points Standings

2022 Motegi MotoGP Time Schedule
(AEST)

2022 MotoGP Calendar