MotoGP: Pecco Bagnaia won, but Jorge Martin was doing business in Thailand

The Italian took the victory he needed in the 18th round to realize his dream of a three-time title, but the Spaniard managed to mitigate the defeat and remains in good form with two rounds to go.

Pecco Bagnaia needed to beat Jorge Martin. If it had been a race win, much better, but the two-time champion urgently needed to beat the Spaniard to take a crucial push in the middle of determining the 2024 title. And he achieved this in the Thai tournament. GP, 18th MotoGP round, in a very difficult track condition and taking his ninth victory of the season. The reigning monarch showed up when he was supposed to and did everything he was supposed to do at the right time. However, for the Spaniard this was not a defeat, quite the contrary, because he minimized the damage with his second place and that is why he celebrated his escort position so much.

The race was very difficult due to heavy rain that fell before the start and made the track very wet. As the laps progressed, the tarmac mixed in sections that were wetter than others, and any mistake would come at a cost. Pecco started from pole position but was unable to hold off Martin’s brutal start. The Madrid native was in command, but there was a mistake that served as a warning: he missed Turn 3 and dropped to third behind Bagnaia and Marc Marquez.

The six-time MotoGP champion launched an attack on the champion and Martin chose to remain calm. He happily signed the third spot. And not to mention when the Catalan entered the court in his attack on the Italian and became second. The only thing he did was stay on track, avoid mistakes and secure the attacking full-back position, which made him happy.

And yes, the two title contenders left by consent. Pecco because he got the success he needed. And although he carried out a power coup, it does not seem to have affected Martin. The Spaniard showed off a strong chin and didn’t flinch with two dates remaining in the World Cup and they face them with a 17-point lead with 74 on the line.

Martin arrived in Buriram 20 ahead of Pecco, who was 22 after the sprint and closed on 17.. Another bye passed and Martin, with much less speed on his Pramac Ducati than the Italian in the official team, was barely three units behind.

“I am pleased with the level we showed in these conditions.In such a difficult race, I started well, but missed the third turn. There were many moments when I almost lost the bike trying to close from third place. When Mark went down, I was thinking about the championship and adding points,” Martin said, showing a maturity he didn’t have in 2023, when he was also challenging Pecco for the crown.

Martin could become champion at the next event in Malaysia. To do this, he will have to expand his light by 21 units to bring it to 38. This seems difficult and everything points to the World Cup ending on the final date in Valencia (November 17). Pecco will go to Sepang with the same goal he came to Malaysia to beat Martinator, and if that means winning the competition, then even better. And the Spaniard is no doubt making it clear that he will lose three more beans and reach Ricardo Tormo with 14. The World Cup depends on Martin. If Pecco wins the two sprints and the remaining two main races and Martin finishes second in all of them, he will become champion by one point. Bagnaia did what he had to do, but so did his opponent.