MotoGP™: Márquez claims victory and the 2019 title in Thailand

Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda Team) finished on top after a splendid scrap with Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha Petronas SRT) to collect his ninth win of the year and put the seal on his eighth world crown – his sixth at MotoGPTM level. Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was third as Michelin tyres contributed to a grand slam of new records (fastest lap, fastest race lap, top speed and race duration) thanks to its MICHELIN Power Slick range which proved a perfect match for the challenge of Buriram.  

The duel between Quartararo and Márquez kicked off in qualifying when the French youngster pocketed his fourth pole position of the campaign thanks to an effort of 1m29.719s, an improvement of 1.1s over the previous benchmark established in 2018. Márquez and Viñales also bettered last year’s time.

Quatararo held firm at lights-out and successfully shrugged off pressure from the Spaniard until the last of the 26 laps when the latter eased into the lead for good. The two riders’ early pace saw the fastest race lap record tumble several times, but Márquez had the final say when he stopped the clock at 1m30.904s on Lap 11.

Last season’s best time was also beaten by Viñales, Andrea Dovizioso (4th, Ducati Team) and Alex Rins (5th, Ecstar Suzuki Team).

The day’s top 10 was rounded out by Franco Morbidelli (Yamaha Petronas SRT), Joan Mir (Ecstar Suzuki Team), Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) and Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda).

Helped by the lasting performance and consistency of his tyres, Márquez not only picked up his eighth world crown but also Michelin’s 30th MotoGPTM title with four races still to come. In addition to his score for the campaign so far of 14 podium finishes - including nine wins - from 15 starts, plus nine pole positions, the Spaniard has emerged as the youngest ever champion in MotoGPTM in history at the age of just 26 years and 231 days, as well as the most successful Honda rider, ahead of Mike Doohan (five world titles).

Michelin tyres also contributed to a new race-duration record for Buriram when Márquez completed the distance 19s quicker than last year’s total time, while Danilo Petrucci clocked the weekend’s top speed (332.3kph).

With the exception of Repsol Honda Team’s Jorge Lorenzo (medium front, soft rear), all the riders opted for a combination of hard- and soft-compound MICHELIN Power Slicks front and rear.

The fight for the season’s silver medal now opposes Dovizioso (265 points), Rins (167), Viñales (163) and Petrucci (162).

Next race: Motul Grand Prix of Japan, Motegi (October 18-20).