Miguel Oliveira once again proved his prowess in the tricky wet conditions at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram to win the Thailand Grand Prix which saw a delayed start due to the heavy rain that earlier caused the Moto2 race to be abandoned mid-way. This is his second win of the season after the race at the Mandalika Circuit in Indonesia, where he mastered the treacherous weather to win.
Marco Bezzechi of the Mooney VR46 Racing Team started from pole position on a front row filled with Ducatis. He seemed to get a good launch and was quickly under pressure from Jorge Martin on the Pramac Ducati. Bezzechi went way wide into turn 1 and then rejoined in the lead. After holding onto the lead for a a few laps, he was ordered to drop one position as he had left the track earlier and had gained an advantage. He managed to slot in between Aussie Jack Miller and Pecco Bagnaia after dropping the lead and into second place.
Meanwhile at the back was Fabio Quartararo, in a nightmare 18th place after a horrible start from P4. The Frenchman never really got to terms with the conditions as he failed to pick up the pace early on and could not match the lap times of the leaders up front.
Meanwhile Bezzechi too looked to suffer as a result of dropping the one place to Jack Miller. He went on to tumble down the order and found himself outside the points positions by the end of the race. He went on to finish a lowly sixteenth. His teammate Luca Marini also lost it early in the race as he had to abandon after his crash. On the whole, it was a day to forget for Valentino Rossi’s team.
The pack at the front settled in nicely as Jack Miller lead from a charging Miguel Oliveira on the factory KTM, who was finding serious pace and setting fastest laps. Bagnaia was behind him in 3rd and right behind the Italian was Marc Marquez in fourth on the Repsol Honda who was giving the Ducati in front him some real pressure 10 laps into the race.
Oliveira jumped Miller to the lead of the race with 11 laps remaining and held on till the end despite the Ducati constantly staying within reach of him. Amidst all the activity, behind the 4 riders ahead, there was Johann Zarco on the Pramac Ducati who was setting some serious pace as he made a late charge on the leaders. He managed to catch Marquez and overtake him for fourth place.
But later on Zarco’s pace went down as the tires started to give up after the charge he made. With thunder rumbling above the riders in the grey skies, Oliveira showed his wet weather skills once more as he claimed his second win of the season from Miller in second and Bagnaia in third.
With the result, Bagnaia is now just 2 points away from championship leader Fabio Quartararo who was 18 points ahead before the start of the race. The Yamaha man finished in a lowly seventeenth. Aleix Espargaro is now 20 points behind Quartararo. He finished in eleventh place after his race taking a hit with long lap penalties due to irresponsible riding in an incident with KTM’s Brad Binder that saw his lose places.
There is all to play for in the rider’s championship as the gap is ever so slender as the riders head to Philip Island in Australia for the next race. Ducati would be hoping to win their first rider’s title after Casey Stoner won it for them way back in 2007.
Image credits: motorcyclesports.net
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