There is no bad second if the happiness is good. Jorge Martín did not win this time in the Buriram Sprint, of the Thai GP, Enea Bastianini did, but his second place was like gold for the Madrid native, since he added two more points than Pecco Bagnaia, third.
In this way, the driver from San Sebastián de los Reyes gave a small moral blow to the two-time champion, whom he aggressively overtook on the track: with the 22 points advantage he now has in the lead, Martín depends on himself to be champion . He could finish second in the remaining races, even if Bagnaia won them all, to be champion. You would have one point left.
Great exit
Bastianini took the lead at the start, Márquez came to second and Bagnaia and Martín lost ground and had to come back
At the start, truly crazy, Bastianini was more skilled than his teammate Bagnaia, who had little use for the preferred pole position. Enea, very aggressive, took first place when he reached the corner, followed by a brutal Marc Márquez, from fifth to third, while Jorge Martín lost two positions, from third to fifth. One corner later, Bagnaia was able to recover one place and take second, to the detriment of Marc.
Acosta, who was starting very well, crashed in turn 3 of the fourth lap. And immediately afterwards, Martín went on the attack and took third place from Marc Márquez to go after Bagnaia and resume his fight for the title.
On the attack
Martín aggressively overtook Bagnaia on lap 7 to snatch second position
The Madrid native bravely launched his offensive against the Italian on lap 7 (of 13). He stepped on the green and was warned of “Track limits” (he could make up to three), but he had dealt a moral blow to the two-time champion with an aggressive interior, to intimidate and mark territory.
Martín, with plenty of strength and pace, went after Bastianini, whom he had 1.5 seconds behind. He had five laps left to catch the Italian. Although, taking risks, he got closer and closer to stepping on the green.
Behind, Marc Márquez could not stand Bagnaia’s high pace and was far away from third position. Bagnaia would not suffer the Catalan’s attack in the last lap.
When the last turn came, Martín was too far away, 1.2s behind Bastianini, to try anything crazy. Second place gave him 2 points over Bagnaia, which extends his lead to 22 points. An advantage with which he depends on himself to be champion, always finishing second in the remaining five races (two short and three Sunday races).
I don’t want to think about math. “I just want to add and not subtract.”
“Today the pace was very crazy. I have given everything, I have not saved anything,” Jorge Martín commented at Dazn’s microphone. “It is very difficult to pass Pecco, he is very strong when braking. I got involved because I saw that he wasn’t braking like always on that curve,” commented the man from Madrid.
“I don’t want to think about mathematics, tomorrow there is a very difficult race. I just want to add and not subtract. I only focus on myself. Obviously it’s important. Tomorrow Pecco will improve and will be in the fight. There are many threats, Pecco, Marc, Enea…”, analyzed the Madrid native.
In the race, with hard rubber behind me I will feel better”
For his part, Bagnaia admitted that he had not found the feeling of the morning, when he scored the pole in the classification. “In turns 6-7 I wasn’t doing well and Jorge overtook me there. I didn’t expect it. It is not an easy point and he has gone outside, it is easy to step on the green there,” said the Italian. “In the race, with hard rubber behind me, I’m going to feel better,” the two-time champion confided.
The positions
Sprint Rankings
Thailand Sprint Qualifying
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