Thailand MotoGP: Marquez beats Quartararo to seal 2019 crown
Honda rider Marc Marquez became MotoGP champion for the sixth time after defeating Fabio Quartararo in a scintillating battle for Thailand Grand Prix victory.
Marquez, who has sealed the 2019 crown with four races to spare, is now just two premier-class titles short of Giacomo Agostini and one short of Valentino Rossi.
The 26-year-old spent most of the Thailand Grand Prix in Quartararo’s wheeltracks before inflicting another last-lap defeat on the French rookie, whose wait for a maiden grand prix victory goes on.
Quartararo, who had been allowed extra RPM from his engine this weekend and qualified on pole for the fourth time, had maintained the lead off the line, while Marquez jumped Maverick Vinales immediately for second and saw off a challenge from the works Yamaha rider on the run down to Turn 3.
Marquez himself then slipstreamed past Quartararo on that straight on the second tour, only to get his braking wrong into Turn 3, running wide in the sweeping right-hander and only just keeping second place from Vinales.
The Honda man was back on Quartararo’s rear tyre in no time, and soon the pair began to make a break for it – with only Vinales managing to keep up for a couple of laps before dropping to more than three seconds off the lead by the end of the 10th lap.
By then Quartararo had managed to put some distance between himself and Marquez, with the gap reaching nearly seven tenths at one point, only for the championship leader to immediately start catching the rookie back up.
On lap 13, he was all over Quartararo once more, hounding him corner after corner as the race passed its halfway point.
He continued to put Quartararo under relentless pressure until lap 23, where he finally tried a move around the outside of Turn 3 but eventually conceded the corner to his rival.
Another look followed at the same corner the lap after, but this wasn’t enough to unsettle Quartararo heading into the penultimate lap, on which the Frenchamn yet again hit his marks and kept Marquez at bay.
But on the final lap Marquez overtook Quartararo using the slipstream even before the braking into Turn 3, and managed to get his Honda stopped just in time to exit the corner ahead.
Quartararo stayed with Marquez over the rest of the lap and launched it down the inside of the Honda man at the final corner, desperately trying to get his bike stopped and pull off a block pass, but running out just wide to allow Marquez a crucial cut-back move.
The pair were separated by 0.171s at the chequered flag, with Vinales completing the podium another second down.
Dovizioso finished fourth, some 11 seconds down on Marquez as he fought off the charging Suzuki of Alex Rins.
Quartararo’s Petronas Yamaha teammate made it three Yamahas in the top six, while Suzuki’s Joan Mir defeated Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi in a close scrap for eighth place.
Danilo Petrucci settled for ninth in the second works Ducati, while Takaaki Nakagami completed the top 10 on the year-old LCR Honda.
Pramac Ducati rider Jack Miller was forced to surrender his sixth place on the grid and pull into the pitlane after at the start of the warm-up lap, but recovered to 14th after starting from the pitlane.
Marquez’s Repsol Honda teammate Jorge Lorenzo was a bruising 18th as he was successful at fighting off Karel Abraham (Avintia Ducati) and Hafizh Syahrin (Tech 3 KTM) but finished 54 seconds down on the race winner.
KTM’s Johann Zarco replacement Mika Kallio was the only rider to crash out, hitting the deck at Turn 8 on the fourth lap while running 16th.
Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro was the only other retirement, the Spaniard seeming disconsolate as he pulled into the pitlane with an unspecified issue.
Race results
| Cla | # | Rider | Bike | Laps | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 93 |  Marc Marquez | Honda | 26 | 39'36.223 |
| 2 | 20 |  Fabio Quartararo | Yamaha | 26 | 39'36.394 |
| 3 | 12 | Maverick Viñales | Yamaha | 26 | 39'37.603 |
| 4 | 4 |  Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 26 | 39'47.441 |
| 5 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 26 | 39'47.672 |
| 6 | 21 | Franco Morbidelli | Yamaha | 26 | 39'50.689 |
| 7 | 36 | Joan Mir | Suzuki | 26 | 39'54.952 |
| 8 | 46 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | 26 | 39'55.385 |
| 9 | 9 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati | 26 | 39'59.648 |
| 10 | 30 |  Takaaki Nakagami | Honda | 26 | 40'05.646 |
| 11 | 63 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati | 26 | 40'06.326 |
| 12 | 35 |  Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 26 | 40'09.439 |
| 13 | 44 | Pol Espargaro | KTM | 26 | 40'11.890 |
| 14 | 43 |  Jack Miller | Ducati | 26 | 40'15.959 |
| 15 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Aprilia | 26 | 40'16.261 |
| 16 | 88 |  Miguel Oliveira | KTM | 26 | 40'16.359 |
| 17 | 53 | Tito Rabat | Ducati | 26 | 40'20.812 |
| 18 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Honda | 26 | 40'30.946 |
| 19 | 17 |  Karel Abraham | Ducati | 26 | 40'32.235 |
| 20 | 55 |  Hafizh Syahrin | KTM | 26 | 40'37.654 |
| 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 17 | 26'37.817 | |
| 82 |  Mika Kallio | KTM | 3 | 4'44.870 | |
| View full results | |||||
Previous article
Thailand MotoGP - the race as it happened
Next article
Marquez: This title even better than 2014 crown
About this article
| Series | MotoGP |
| Event | Thailand GP |
| Sub-event | Race |
| Author | Valentin Khorounzhiy |
Repsol Honda Team - Pol Espargaró Q&A
Repsol Honda Team - Marc Marquez Q&A
Why Alex Marquez doesn't care about 'shutting up' MotoGP critics
Alex Marquez's form was one of MotoGP 2020's biggest surprises and, by firmly stepping out of his six-time world champion brother Marc's shadow, he proved a few people wrong. Not that he cares about this, as he tells Lewis Duncan
How Yamaha's new MotoGP era can unchain Vinales
After the electrifying start to his Yamaha MotoGP career in 2017, Maverick Vinales has struggled for consistency. Many anticipate that the arrival of Fabio Quartararo could spell disaster, but the departure of Valentino Rossi could be just the impetus he needs.
Does KTM really need 'super engine' for MotoGP title challenge?
Fears from rival MotoGP manufacturers that KTM would build a 'super engine' for 2021 have ultimately come to nothing with the revealation that the RC16 hasn't been radically changed over the winter. But does it really need that to win the title?
How Ducati's latest Aussie union can return it to MotoGP glory
Australians on Ducatis is an iconic partnership, the marque's last one yielding its sole MotoGP crown to date. But its latest Aussie union with the often underestimated Jack Miller can end this drought.
The "balls out" battle between MotoGP's true greats
Senna vs Prost is regularly cited as motorsport's greatest rivalry. But it can easily be argued Rainey vs Schwantz can stake that claim. That rivalry was in full swing during the 1991 500cc season, remembered fondly by both stars 30 years on...
The "warrior" MotoGP rookie KTM was right to back
The 2020 MotoGP campaign featured a standout pair of rookies, but one flew under the radar as he adjusted to a shock step-up armed with very little racing experience. However as his veteran team boss explains, the faith shown in him was not misplaced
Why Suzuki's Brivio replacement must come from within
With its charismatic leader Davide Brivio leaving for Formula 1, the Suzuki MotoGP squad he turned into a world championship-winning force in 2020 has a major recruitment headache that it needs to resolve carefully.
Why Alpine's latest signing could be its best hope of F1 glory
The return of Fernando Alonso to the renamed Alpine team is a sure sign of the team's ambition. But its latest appointment from MotoGP could be an even bigger coup as it seeks to end a barren run stretching back to Alonso's 2006 world title
