Thailand MotoGP, Buriram – Free Practice (4) Results

* Rookie

Official Buriram MotoGP records:
Best lap:
Fabio Quartararo FRA Yamaha 1m 29.719s (2019)
Fastest race lap:
Marc Marquez SPA Honda 1m 30.904s (2019)

Johann Zarco sets the pace in final practice for the 2022 Thailand MotoGP, as Ducati riders filled the top four places at Buriram.

It could arguably be called five, with FP3 leader Jorge Martin tied with KTM’s Brad Binder for fourth, with Franco Morbidelli surprising as the top Yamaha in sixth followed by team-mate and world champion Quartararo.

Suzuki’s Alex Rins made it four different manufacturers in the top eight.

Yamaha test rider Cal Crutchlow, who injured his right ankle in a huge Friday afternoon highside, ran as high as third in the middle stages of the 30-minute session.

Marc Marquez, fastest in FP1 but pushed outside the top ten this morning, was just behind Crutchlow in twelfth, with Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia 13th but still within half a second of Zarco.

Fellow title contender Aleix Espargaro and especially Aprilia team-mate Maverick Vinales continued to battle grip issues at Buriram, leaving them 14th and 16th.

Vinales was again seen shaking his head and waving his hand in frustration at continuously running wide.

#ThaiGP d2bsh2zcBT

— MotoGP (@_motogp) October 1, 2022

A roughly even split between the medium or soft rear tyres were in use during FP4, as teams and riders prepared for Sunday’s race.

Qualifying 1 – for those outside the top ten after third free practice, including Marc Marquez, Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales- will now get underway.

Rain is forecast for later in the afternoon, but will it arrive before or after qualifying?

• Thailand MotoGP, Buriram – Free Practice (3) Results
• Thailand Moto2 Grand Prix, Buriram – Qualifying Results
• Thailand Moto3 Grand Prix, Buriram – Qualifying Results

Fabio Quartararo takes an extended 18-point world championship lead over Francesco Bagnaia into the final four rounds, after the Italian’s last lap accident at Motegi.

The Japanese Grand Prix was also a race to forget for Aleix Espargaro, who has slipped 25 points from the top after technical issues forced a last-minute bike swap, leaving him 16th.

The last time MotoGP raced at Buriram, in 2019, Marc Marquez – on pole at Motegi last weekend – narrowly held off then rookie Quartararo to wrap up his eighth world title, with Maverick Vinales completing a podium covered by just 1.3s.

MotoGP welcomes back Danilo Petrucci this weekend. Fresh from finishing runner-up in the MotoAmerica Superbike championship, the double premier-class winner (with Ducati) is stepping in at Suzuki for the injured Joan Mir.

Petrucci won’t be the only substitute on track, with HRC test rider Tetsuta Nagashima, who ed out of a MotoGP race debut last weekend at Motegi, called up in place of injured countryman Takaaki Nakagami at LCR Honda.

Wet weather is forecast throughout the Buriram event.

As with the other end of season ‘flyaways’, absent from the calendar since Covid restrictions in 2019, ten riders have no prior experience of racing in MotoGP at Buriram: Brad Binder, Alex Marquez, Jorge Martin, Enea Bastianini, Luca Marini, plus this year’s rookies Marco Bezzecchi, Fabio di Giannantonio, Darryn Binder, Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez.

Friday September 30

3am – Moto3 FP1

3.55am – Moto2 FP1

4.50am – MotoGP FP1

7.15am – Moto3 FP2

8.10am – Moto2 FP2

9.05am – MotoGP FP2

Saturday October 1

3am – Moto3 FP3

3.55am – Moto2 FP3

4.50am – MotoGP FP3

6.35am – Moto3 Q1

7am – Moto3 Q2

7.30am – Moto2 Q1

7.55am – Moto2 Q2

8.25am – MotoGP FP4

9.05am – MotoGP Q1

9.30am – MotoGP Q2

Sunday October 2

4am – Moto3 warm-up

4.20am – Moto2 warm-up

4.40am – MotoGP warm-up

6am – Moto3 race

7.20am – Moto2 race

9am – MotoGP race