BURI RAM: MotoGP leader Marc Marquez crashed again but qualified on the front row on Saturday for what is shaping up as a title-deciding Thailand Grand Prix, with Petronas Yamaha rookie Fabio Quartararo seizing pole position.
Honda’s Marquez will start in third place and will take his sixth MotoGP title, and fourth in a row, if he beats Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso by two points at the Chang International Circuit in Buri Ram on Sunday.
The Italian qualified only seventh.
Marquez was taken to hospital on Friday after being catapulted off his bike in what he called a “nightmare crash”, but the Spaniard returned later in the day after being given the all-clear.
He came off again in Saturday’s session, falling at the tricky Turn Five while pushing to better Quartararo’s time but without consequence.
Quartararo’s pole position was the Frenchman’s fourth of an impressive debut season, and he did it in a record lap time of one minute 29.719 seconds before also crashing while trying to go even faster.
Works Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales qualified second, 0.106 slower.
Italian great Valentino Rossi was the first to crash in the session and the 40-year-old will start from ninth place.
Marquez’s struggling teammate and compatriot Jorge Lorenzo, a triple MotoGP champion, qualified a disappointing 19th.
A seasonal downpour soaked the Chang International Circuit earlier in the day, delaying qualifying and creating challenging conditions for riders.
Workers in ponchos swept water off the circuit as a safety car did test laps. The morning session was “delayed due to weather conditions”, MotoGP said on its official Twitter account.
It briefly resumed as rains tapered off 80 minutes past the start time but the track was still wet and riders waited again for conditions to improve.
Clear skies prevailed throughout the inaugural event last year on the $60-million, Hermann Tilke-designed Chang International Circuit, which is Formula 1 grade.
But the event is scheduled toward the tail end of monsoon season, and rain and humidity are expected.