Bagnaia wins Thai GP to slash Martin’s lead

Francesco Bagnaia took victory in a wet 2024 Thai GP, ahead of chief title rival and current championship leader Jorge Martin. After a heated battle with factory KTM rider Jack Miller, Pedro Acosta finally prevailed to take his third podium of the season.  

1. Gap between Martin and Bagnaia is 17 points now
2. Johann Zarco finishes P8; best result for a Japanese bike
3. Ducati wins 2024 MotoGP teams’ crown

Fight for the win

While Saturday’s Sprint was a dry race won by Enea Bastianini, Sunday’s race was a different story altogether. Sunday’s 26-lap race was a wet one, where initially, Martin got off to a good start and took the lead in the opening stages. However, a mistake some laps later gave Bagnaia and Marc Marquez the opportunity to go past Martin, who dropped down to third place. 

Bagnaia and Marquez then engaged in a tense battle for the lead, and while Marquez did overtake the reigning World Champion a couple of times, he couldn’t make any moves stick. In pursuit of the lead, Marquez crashed out on Lap 14, but was able to rejoin the race. 

With Marquez out of the running, Bagnaia eked out consistently fast laps to increase his already substantial lead over Martin, and ultimately took the chequered flag in first place. With this win, the factory Ducati Lenovo outfit also sealed the 2024 MotoGP teams’ title. 

GasGas vs KTM for podium

Marc Marquez’s crash brought Jack Miller into podium contention and the Australian managed to stay there for much of the race. But Acosta was on a charge in the closing stages, and passed Brad Binder before setting his sights on Miller. Acosta and Miller then engaged in a fierce battle for the final podium place, in which the hard-charging Acosta and his GasGas machine prevailed. 

Top 10 finish for Zarco

LCR Honda racer Zarco had been strong all weekend and was the only Honda rider to find a hard-fought spot in Q2, even if it was the last one available, in 12th place. He managed to put in consistently quick lap times in the race to finally take eighth place when the chequered flag dropped. 

2024 MotoGP standings

Martin’s advantage to Bagnaia, with just two rounds pending, is a slender 17 points. Bagnaia’s teammate Bastianini and Marc Marquez (fourth and third in the standings, respectively) have been ruled out of mathematical contention for the World Championship. The penultimate round of the 2024 season will be held at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia on November 1-3.

2024 Thai GP results

Also see:

Australian GP: Marquez wins, Martin extends MotoGP title lead