Mighty Marquez enjoys perfect Ducati debut

The MotoGP field has been put on notice with Marc Marquez delivering an emphatic and ominous perfect performance in his first weekend with Ducati.

Marquez’s first round in the red of Ducati could not have gone any better as he won both the Sprint and Grand Prix from pole and effectively unchallenged.

It was a masterclass from the #93, leaving the rest to fight for the minors and it was a familiar affair as brother Alex Marquez secured second ahead of Francesco Bagnaia.

It was truely the perfect weekend for the Marquez family with the #93 leading the #73 in all the big sessions.

“It’s a dream. I cannot ask for more,” Marc Marquez said.

“We started this new journey with the pole position, double victory in the sprint and main race.

“I want to say thanks to the team because for me it’s important to feel good on the bike but even more so in the box, with Marco Rigamonti and all the mechanics, I feel super good – even the team managers.

“I feel like they know me from 10 years ago. But I feel super good, and this gave me the confidence.

“I’m riding in a very good way. Sharing that weekend with my brother is something unreal for my family. I cannot imagine the feeling of my father, mother and all the family.”

A big crowd of 224,634 ensured Thailand’s first MotoGP season opener was a success.

Marquez was not the only rider in new colours, with many significant changes up and down the grid including Australia’s Jack Miller.

Returning to Pramac, which has just started its new Yamaha satellite era after breaking away from Ducati, Miller made an immediate impact.

The Aussie qualified an impressive fourth and the best of the non Ducatis.

The Sprint was all about the Marquez family with Marc never being threatened.

As a result the battle was for second and Bagnaia made an early assault on Alex at the start, but was not successful and never threatened after that.

Miller looked set for sixth, but crashed out.

When it was time for the Grand Prix Marc again got a perfect start while there was contact between Bagnaia and Alex.

Alex Marquez was the loser running wide and dropping to fourth, but he quickly fought back to second, highlighted by an aggressive move on Bagnaia.

Miller locked down fifth after an early battle with Ogura, but the Aussie also started drift back and eventually dropped out of the top 10 to 11th as Morbidelli charged from ninth to be best of the rest.

Lap 7 issue where Marc Marquez suddenly slowed on the exit of turn 3 and not only lost his 1.5s advantage, but also the lead to brother Alex.

However, it only proved a brief blip on the radar than anything terminal as he only needed a lap to regain the time loss.

Despite the older brother looking much faster than the younger Gresini rider, it was not until the very end when he decided to go on the attack.

He executed the move on the final corner of the 23rd lap, just four from home, but Alex offered little resistance.

Marc Marquez revealed he was managing a tyre pressure issue and he left the winning move late to ensure he rode within the 1.8 bar of pressure minimum for 60% of the race and avoid a penalty.

“I realised the tyre pressure was not enough, and then I was looking for a slipstream,” he said.

“And I had only three laps of margin, and for that reason I only overtook Alex with three laps to the end because since I don’t complete the laps I didn’t overtake him.

“But it was quite critical, because with a penalty it was a disaster.”

However, with the #93 being so dominant even with an issue, it makes riders fear how they can beat him at full strength.

“Marc was playing with us all the race, so [my] maximum ambition was to finish in P2, but I tried my best,” teammate Bagnaia said.

It will be interesting to see if anyone can take the fight to Marc Marquez in Argentina on March 14-16.

Photo by Steve Wobser/Getty Images

MotoGP Thai GP results

1: Marc Marquez 39:37.244

2: Alex Marquez +1.732

3: Francesco Bagnaia +2.398

4: Franco Morbidelli +5.176

5: Ai Ogura +7.450

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