Qualifying round up from Thailand – MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3

MotoGP 2022 – Round 17 – Thailand

The last time two or more MotoGP rookies started from pole in a single season was 2006, and Marco Bezzecchi’s stunning new all-time lap record at Buriram ensures 2022 enters the history books as another such year.

The Mooney VR46 Racing Team rider took pole by just 0.021 from old Moto3 sparring partner Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), with Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) completing the Ducati front row lockout.

The fight went down to the final few seconds as Martin’s provisional pole was snatched away by Bezzecchi, but the number 89 had one last shot at it. And it was close, but he couldn’t quite snatch it back, leaving it as just 0.021 splitting the two.

Bagnaia was first to put in a serious challenge for pole as he headed out earlier than many for a second run, and the Italian made up a huge chunk of time late in the lap. In the end, however, it gives him third – and he is the top qualifier of the Championship challengers.

It’s close, however, with Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) next up at the head of the second row, and that second row is completed by Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP).

The contrasting fortunes were for Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing), with both Aprilias failing to make it out of Q1 at a track the new RS-GP is taking on for the first time. He’ll want to leap forward on Sunday from P13.

Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) splits Quartararo and Bastianini on Row 2, with Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) at the head of Row 3 – but the same place he qualified at Motegi as he blasted away to a dominant win. Miller only had one run at a qualifying time as an engine problem saw him sit out the last minutes of the session in the pits without making a time attack.

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) came through Q1 and was challenging for the front row on his final lap of Q2, but the number 93 then lost over four-tenths in the final sector after a big slide at the final corner.

Still, Marquez will likely prove one to watch on Sunday as the only rider to win at Buriram so far. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) starts alongside the eight-time World Champion.

Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) completes the top ten ahead of both Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machines of Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder, with the Austrian factory looking for more in that final push of qualifying – but likely to move forward once the lights go out.

So, we have a first-time pole-sitter with a shot at Rookie of the Year, Bagnaia and Quartararo close on the grid, Bastianini with less and less to lose, and Aleix Espargaro looking for a lot more on Sunday.

Thailand MotoGP Qualifying Times

MotoGP Rider Quotes

Marco Bezzecchi – P1

“I’m really happy: notoriously I’m not a qualifying guy. I did not believe it and I did not even realise immediately that I had made the pole position. Returning to the garage then, I saw my mechanic in the middle of the pit lane before the parc fermè. 

“I’m happy, it’s a great momentum for the whole crew, the people who work for the Team even from home and for Vale (Valentino Rossi) who always follows us. 

“This morning in the FP3 I made a big step forward, but I used two soft. So for qualifying I went out on the track for the first attempt with the used tyre. I tried to ride well, to be smooth and I am also satisfied with the pace. 

“I’m just undecided on the tyre for tomorrow, we’ll analyse the data well and figure out what to do. The temperatures can be a key factor in the choice between soft and medium.”

Jorge Martín – P2

“Too bad because I had everything to make the pole position, I did three fast laps one after the other but in each one I made a small mistake. However, I am satisfied with the work done in these days, I am confident for tomorrow.”

Fabio Quartararo – P4

“Today was a tough but great qualifying day. I feel that we have great potential, especially concerning our race pace. I went out with old tyres, and I was feeling quite fast. In the time attack, I was just giving my 100%. We know there are areas where we are losing time, and we have less grip compared to 2019. But I’m strong in Turn 9 and 10. Especially in Turn 10 I can carry speed. That’s the place where I can try something. I think we can do a great race tomorrow!”

Johann Zarco – P5

“A positive day, it was not easy to go under 1:30 but we did it. A pity to have missed the front row but starting from the second row is still a good result. Tomorrow it will be crucial to stay with the front group throughout the race.”

Enea Bastianini – P6

“We’re happy. We made an important step forward this morning both riding and set-up wise. In qualifying I couldn’t get a proper clean lap, but we managed to push hard on the last lap despite a few little mistakes. Second row is good and we can have a good race tomorrow, but surely we’ll need something extra.”

Marc Marquez – P8

“The final result is a bit less than we were aiming for today, but looking at the positives – I was able to start riding how I want and I was able to really push the Honda. In Qualifying I had a big moment which ended our best lap, but we know what is going on and how we can fix it. 

“Also in Free Practice 3 at the last corner I had a moment which meant we went to Q1, so it was a bit of a knock on. 

“But we keep getting experience and testing ourselves more and more. Tomorrow’s race will be a bit interesting, we need a good start to make up some positions because our pace is good but overtaking can be tricky.”

Luca Marini – P9

“I’m not very happy with the QP itself, while the race pace with the medium was great. I was very strong and consistent, especially in the FP3 this morning. However, I can’t be as fast as I would like on the flying lap: I ride well, the bike is ok, but I don’t fully exploit the potential of the tire. I don’t feel the difference I would like between soft and medium. For the race I am quite confident, even if I am starting a bit behind in the group. Compared to Japan, it will certainly be warmer here and tyres and engine will suffer more. It will be difficult to overtake, but we will try.”

Alex Rins – P10

“I think I have a good chance tomorrow, because I feel like I have really good race pace, especially with used tyres. But I will start from P10 on the grid, which obviously makes things more difficult than if I was higher. It’s a bit frustrating but I couldn’t find the same pace on fresh tyres, and Petrux also felt similar. There are some hard braking zones on the first corners, and I’ll try to make up some positions in the early laps, especially once the fuel load drops a bit.”

Miguel Oliveira – P11

“A mixed feeling today because I wanted to do a good lap in FP3 but left it too late and the yellow flag meant it wasn’t possible. I knew there was chance to go through Q1 and we could make it and it took a lot of effort. I felt that we had made a step forward with the bike this afternoon and I was quite fast. I wanted to save a bit of energy for the last run in Q2 but looking back I should have gone out on a used tire and set up a marker and gone from there. Still, happy with the performance. Our place on the grid is nothing special but I think we can make a good race tomorrow.”

Brad Binder – P12

“Today was really, really good. I started off well this morning, was strong from the first exit and could be really consistent throughout the day, my pace was good and I’m happy with the way we were working. I put in the soft tire and went straight through to Q2. FP4 was great and I felt really confident with what I had beneath me. 

“The only slip up of the day was in qualifying when we started with the medium rear tyre to make sure we have a spare soft for tomorrow. I came in to use our allotted soft tire for the qualifying lap attempt and unfortunately I had to pull it over and couldn’t have a shot at it. That was a bit annoying but, anyway, it is what it is. It doesn’t take anything away from the fact that we have really good pace and I think I can do a good job tomorrow.”

Aleix Espargaro – P13

“It hasn’t been an easy weekend so far. We continue to struggle with poor grip at the rear. Doing any better than what we did today was truly impossible. Missing Q2 by one tenth was a pity but I’m still optimistic. The reality of the situation tells us that despite not having the best feeling, we still aren’t that far off in terms of pace and anything can happen in the race.”

Franco Morbidelli – P14

“It was a tricky day because we missed Q2 by just a small margin. Then we needed to go through Q1, and in the time attack I again couldn’t extract the real potential from the bike. That’s my problem: I can’t extract the full performance from the tyres as I would like to. I struggle with the lack of grip, even more so during a time attack compared to a normal run. After many laps on the same tyre, I’m able to get some performance out, but during the time attack we have only three laps at our disposal, and I just can’t feel the right performance from the tyre soon enough. We will see what the race will be like tomorrow because the weather is a question mark. If it’s dry during tomorrow’s Warm Up, it will be another chance to understand our lack of tyre usage better.”

Cal Crutchlow – P15

“Obviously today I felt the effects of the injury from yesterday. I woke up not feeling very fresh, that’s sure. But overall, we can be happy with the performance today. I tried my best. In FP3, after what happened yesterday, I was a bit reluctant to push to the limit to try and go to Q2. So, we went into Q1 and to qualify 15th is not so bad. But honestly speaking, we are struggling with the rear grip of the bike this weekend.”

“It’s a little bit due to the nature of the circuit, but also with the Yamaha, we seem to be struggling quite a lot. Therefore, we will look tonight together with the team and the Yamaha engineers, if we can improve this for tomorrow, because I think we can have a good race. My pace is good. I’m happy, but I know we can improve. So, let’s see the situation tomorrow for the race. We have the Warm Up to try a few things. Hopefully the Warm Up is dry or wet, if it’s going to be a wet race to get some time to understand the bike a bit more in these conditions. Overall, I think we have done a good job again this weekend.”

Raul Fernandez – P16

“I have not been feeling well today and this morning we decided to skip FP3 to get as much rest as possible for the FP4 and qualifying. When I came back, I was feeling good but I had not been eating, and if you don’t eat, you don’t recover. The FP4 session itself was not great but it was not bad either I would say. But in qualifying, it was tough. I started with three laps and on the third one my stomach already hurt, so we will see how we feel tomorrow for the race.”

Maverick Vinales – P17

“There are good weekends and others when you just have to limit the damage. Here in Thailand, we have been unable to find the right feeling, despite trying various solutions on the bike. It will be a difficult race, starting from so far behind and without having a good pace but the important thing will be figuring out what is causing these difficulties so we can improve.”

Remy Gardner – P18

“The day has been quite ok although I am a bit dissatisfied with the position. We are close to being thirteenth so it was not what I had hoped for. I did my lap on my own which is good but I lost time in sectors 1 and 2 in the long straights, whilst I felt good in sectors 3 and 4. For tomorrow, we still need to analyse whether we will use soft or medium tyres. We have tried both today and both were not bad, so we will have a decision to make tomorrow morning. It will be key to start the race well and manage the tyres, and if we manage to do that, we can do a good race on Sunday.”

Pol Espargaro – P19

“Well, there’s not much to say about today. We are having our issues and we are working to solve them. It’s clear it hasn’t been an easy weekend but we are not going to give up, I will keep on trying every time I get on the bike. It will be a very long race tomorrow if it’s wet or dry so a lot is possible. We will see what happens when the lights go out.”

Álex Márquez – P20

“We made some steps today, but this is our reality and where we are with this bike, with the grip level we are suffering a lot. FP4 was a disaster and in qualy we were there with the Hondas who have the same package as us. Tomorrow will be a long race, we have to believe we can gain some positions and keep pushing.”

Fabio DiGiannantonio – P21

“It wasn’t a good day at all. We made some modifications to the bike that didn’t work and we didn’t manage to improve our best lap of the weekend. With a result such as this one it’ll be hard in the race tomorrow, but we we’re not giving up and we’ll work hard for a good comeback.”

Tetsuta Nagashima – P22

“I’m quite happy about FP4 because our race pace looks not too bad. In qualifying, I felt I could have improved a little bit more because I made mistakes in some sectors, so If I put a good lap together I could have been closer. But overall, our lap times got better and better and I’m quite happy about this and let’s see what we can do tomorrow. I’ll focus on race pace and not making mistakes and will give my best.”

Darryn Binder – P23

“We’ve been lucky enough today to get good weather again. But it was much hotter than yesterday and I felt the track conditions have been slightly more difficult in the heat. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make the step I was looking forward to in the Qualifying. Anyway, overall, I’ll just stay focused for tomorrow’s race, I’ll try to get everything together and do my best in the 26 laps of the race.”

Danilo Petrucci – P24

“I’m happy, even though I didn’t want to finish last. I’m feeling quite confident about the race because my overall pace is much better than my ‘flying laps’, so I think I can be quicker tomorrow. When it comes to setting a hot lap I’m finding it harder to understand how best to ride the bike, and the others are faster than me because they do it every week. The team have put in a big effort for me, they are amazing and so is the bike, and I will try to be as competitive as possible tomorrow because they deserve it.”

MotoGP Championship Points Standings

Moto2

The home crowd expected, and he delivered! Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) will start from pole for his home OR Thailand Grand Prix, achieving the feat for the first time in his career and in doing so becoming the first Thai rider to take pole in Grand Prix history. Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) was the rider denied, by less than a tenth, with Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) completing the front row.

Championship leader Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) starts eighth and has a little work to do on race day, although the number 37 has made short work of a comeback several times already this season.

Two rookies line up on Row 2: Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) takes fourth, with fellow rookie race winner Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools Speed Up) in sixth. The two are split by Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team). Jake Dixon (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) heads up Row 3 ahead of Fernandez.

One key incident in Q2 saw Albert Arenas (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) and Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) come together. The latter went to the Medical Centre and no fractures were found but he’ll be reviewed before Warm Up. Arenas is left P15 on the grid and Roberts P17.

There’s just two points between Fernandez and Ogura heading into race day in Thailand, but the two have to share the spotlight this weekend as Chantra races on home turf.

Thailand Moto2 Friday Qualifying Times

Moto2 Championship Points Standings

Moto3

A new lap record puts Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) on pole for the OR Thailand Grand Prix, with the riders on the chase in the standings coming out on top on Saturday: Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) is second on the grid, 0.292 back, and Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) third a little further in arrears.

Championship leader Izan Guevara (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) will start 11th after making it out of Q1, but the number 28’s deficit to Foggia is nearly a second. Nevertheless, he started ninth in Motegi and won.

Even if he can’t repeat that feat, his lead may still extend – his teammate Sergio Garcia (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team), the rider second in the standings, is P20 on the grid after failing to make it out of Q1.

Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team) is fourth on the grid ahead of rookies Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MASI) and Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Ajo) on the second row.

Joel Kelso will start from P12.

Thailand Moto3 Qualifying Times

Moto3 Championship Points Standings

2022 Motegi MotoGP Time Schedule
(AEST)

2022 MotoGP Calendar