Márquez to start from third row of the grid

Rain held off at Buriram and qualifying was held in dry conditions, with a lot of humidity and heat, and the MotoGP riders running slicks.

Marc Márquez was unable to place among the Top 10 in FP3 and had to go through Q1. In this first qualifying session, the Repsol Honda Team rider was fastest and made it into Q2.

In Q2, Márquez set a best time of 1:30.133, putting him eighth on the grid.

Pol Espargaró also had to enter Q1. The Repsol Honda Team rider finished ninth in that session, and his 1:30.641 put him nineteenth, starting from Row 7 of the grid.

Rider statements

#MM93

“The final result is a bit less than we were aiming for today, but looking at the positives – I was able to start riding how I want and I was able to really push the Honda. In Qualifying I had a big moment which ended our best lap, but we know what is going on and how we can fix it. Also in Free Practice 3 at the last corner I had a moment which meant we went to Q1, so it was a bit of a knock on. But wee keep getting experience and testing ourselves more and more. Tomorrow’s race will be a bit interesting, we need a good start to make up some positions because our pace is good but overtaking can be tricky.”

#POL44

“Well, there’s not much to say about today. We are having our issues and we are working to solve them. It’s clear it hasn’t been an easy weekend but we are not going to give up, I will keep on trying every time I get on the bike. It will be a very long race tomorrow if it’s wet or dry so a lot is possible. We will see what happens when the lights go out.”