THAILAND PACESETTER
Marquez takes Buri Ram pole
>> BURI RAM: Championship leader Marc Marquez became the first rider to take pole position at the inaugural PTT Thailand Grand Prix yesterday.
The f our-time MotoGP world champion had to fight his way through the first qualifying session after a crash in practice, but in Q2 he stormed to a time of one minute and 30.088 seconds for his 50th career pole.
It underlined the superb form of the Honda rider, who holds a 72-point lead over Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso with five races remaining as he closes in on a fifth world title.
“Of course I was happy how I finished the day,” Spain’s Marquez, 25, told reporters, describing his morning practice session as “unlucky”.
Seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi, who along with Marquez is a firm favourite among Thai fans, was 11-hundredths of a second behind Marquez with Dovizioso third fastest at Chang International Circuit.
Yamaha’s Rossi described his time as a “great result” after he qualified just 18th quickest last month in Aragon, his lowest grid position since 2006.
“When you lose the pole position to a small difference, it’s always a shame,” said Rossi, who will fire his YZR-M1 machine off the front row for the first time since the Czech GP.
“But it’s more like good news than bad news because last week, in Aragon, I started 18th, now I’m second. This weekend, I feel good with the bike. Today, together with the team, we followed the right way. We were able to improve the balance of the bike. It looks like the bike makes the tyre work in a good way. I’m very happy to start on the front row and I’m also very happy about my pace because, with the race tyre, I’m fast. I think that I can do a good race.”
Thailand’s first MotoGP is being held in the northeastern province of Buri Ram which has a population of only about 30,000.
More t han double that size turned out on yesterday, according to organisers.
Thailand is the 15th leg of the 19-race season.
Meanwhile, Jorge Lorenzo pulled out of the Buri Ram race yesterday after a dramatic crash the day before that sent him tumbling off the track.
The Ducati rider said his left wrist is “hurting a lot” and that he did not want to take more risks.
“Now is time for recovery,” the 31-year-old Spaniard told reporters, adding that he wasn’t certain he could compete in the next race in Japan.
“I’m very worried because Japan is one of my favourite tracks.”
Meanwhile, they came by train, bus and car but Thai fans are bonding over a shared love of Marquez, as the first-ever race is held here to an enthusiasm that organisers hope will catch fire across Southeast Asia.
Sporting a hat emblazoned with Marquez’s No.93, Pornrathee Pinchanpalee waited outside the exit of the Chang International Circuit late Friday to catch a glimpse of her favourite rider, even though she managed to take a photo with him earlier.
She was in a group of several other Marquez-mad Thai fans waiting for the 25-year-old star after the first practice sessions ahead of today’s race.
“We came separately. I’m alone, but we met here,” said the 38-year-old, who lives about an hour and half away from Buri Ram.
“We are in a fan club of Marc’s. Marc is so nice, he is so kind. He always has positive thinking. I love it,” she said. “I mean he’s the champion, and he’s handsome also.”
The group came from different backgrounds, but the fever for Marquez was the same.
“Give us seven!” chanted a friend of Pornrathee, putting up a hand sign with the number of premier titles Marquez has won across divisions.
“He will absolutely win as he is quite confident,” Aekkachai Chewong, 26, a Thai motorbike enthusiast.