Recapping the Sunday MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 contests from Buriram

MotoGP 2025

Round One – Thai GP – Buriram – Sunday

Grabbing the holeshot and seizing the initiative in a repeat of the Sprint on Saturday, Marc Marquez led them through the opening laps. Brother Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) was second whilst Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) occupied P3. Another good start from Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) saw him briefly inside the podium places on the opening lap but he was soon shuffled back by that aforementioned Ducati triumvirate. Pedro Acosta’s (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) charge in the leading places soon came to an abrupt end with a fall at Turn 1 on Lap 4.

The race looked to be taking a familiar tone to the Sprint but on Lap 7, coming out of Turn 3, race leader Marc Marquez seemingly slowed down with no apparent or visual reason. He slotted in behind his brother, who assumed the lead of the Grand Prix; whilst Marc may not have led every lap of the year, a Marquez has.

There was much conjecture as to whether Marc had slowed for tyre pressure concerns, tyre/fuel conservation or another factor, but either way, the result was that we now had a tense Grand Prix at the front between the rival siblings. It was later confirmed that it was indeed a tyre pressure warning on Marc’s dash that saw him slow in behind his brother to try and ensure his pressure didn’t drop too low for too long.

Further back, there was a good fight unfolding for sixth place with Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing), Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP), Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) and Joan Mir (HRC Honda Castrol). However, for Mir, the 2020 World Champion’s optimism turned to despair as he fell on Lap 16 at Turn 12, tucking the front and unable to remount.

For Miller, he started to have problems from lap eight after parts of his fairing became dislodged, which not only made the bike harder to turn and handle but also resulted in even more radiated heat reaching the rider.

Maintaining the status quo for the next handful of laps at the front, Marc remained glued to his brother; on Lap 18, Pecco was likewise just a second back but after a couple more laps, started slipping back but was in a safe third place ahead of Franco Morbidelli. Having initially looked as if he didn’t have the pace to go with the leading brothers, Bagnaia closed back in.

It came too late to have a say though as on Lap 23 at Turn 12, Marc attacked Alex and retook the lead. All eyes were now on whether or not Alex had anything left in the locker, but he didn’t. The six-time MotoGP Champion had it all under control. 93 Grand Prix weekends after he last led the World Championship, Marc Marquez doubled up and took his first Grand Prix victory in the red of Ducati. A 112th podium matches ex-team-mate at Honda Dani Pedrosa in the rostrum rankings.

Bagnaia closed in on Alex as the race reached its climax but couldn’t have a say, with Alex holding on and joining his brother on the podium.

Pecco’s third place means the top three from the Sprint emphasised their strength with a repeat showing in Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Morbidelli clinched fourth place ahead of an impressive Ogura, who can be proud of a double top five on his debut weekend to welcome him up to MotoGP. Ogura’s result is the best by a rookie in a Grand Prix since 2013 – some kid called Marc Marquez back then. It’s also the first top five for a Japanese rider in a Grand Prix since 2021’s Styrian GP, when Takaaki Nakagami claimed a fifth place finish.

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Bezzecchi fought through for P6 ahead of a late-charging Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR), already bettering Honda’s best result from last year at the same Grand Prix.

Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) had a quiet race to P8, ahead of a resurgent Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) who turned his pre-season woes into Grand Prix gains in ninth; Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) came through to deny Miller the final place within the top ten, although Miller’s first Grand Prix with Yamaha saw him as the top representative for the Iwata manufacturer, despite the problems the Australian had to contend with when his fairings came loose on lap eight.

With Miller taking P11, Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) was next up and saw off pressure from rookie Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), Miguel Oliveira (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), with the 2021 World Champion having a nightmare opening lap where he was as low as 18th and never really recovering, complaining after the race that he had no grip from lap one.

Home-hero Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda LCR) took 18th, just five seconds from points on his debut. Thousands of Thai fans revelled in seeing a Thai rider racing in MotoGP.

That’s a wrap on Buriram. For Marc Marquez it’s the first time he’s won the opener since 2014. For Ogura, it’s the best rookie GP result since… Marc Marquez in 2013.

MotoGP reconvenes in two weeks time in Argentina, then it is on to COTA a fortnight later.

MotoGP Race Results

MotoGP Standings

Moto2

Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) produced an inch perfect performance at the Thai Grand Prix to collect the first Moto2 victory honours of the season. Aron Canet (Fantic Racing LINO SONEGO) claimed a solid second place as Senna Agius made it two Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP riders on the rostrum, despite being handed a Long Lap penalty following an incident with Celestino Vietti (Team HDR Heidrun).

The early frontrunner on his Triumph-powered Boscoscuro was Vietti but Gonzalez was clinging right onto the tailpipes of the Italian, with the latter’s team-mate Agius enjoying a fantastic start to the race right behind them in third place. By Lap 12 of 22, Gonzalez was at the front and beginning to pull the pin. The gap was up to 1.9s as Agius locked onto the back of Vietti.

Then, drama. Agius showed a wheel to Vietti’s left hand side through Turn 10 and there was contact made. It was enough to see Vietti slide out of contention, Agius was sent wide and lost a heap of time, which allowed Canet to climb into second place. That controversial collision meant Gonzalez was now over three-seconds ahead at the front, with Agius subsequently handed a Long Lap penalty for his involvement.

In the closing stages, Gonzalez and Canet were comfortable in P1 and P2, with Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team) – who picked off Agius after his mistake – was starting to come under pressure again from the recovering Australian. The move came at Turn 12 with three laps to go, before Moreira bit back at Turn 1. Agius was back into P3 at Turn 3, but Moreira didn’t throw in the sweat drenched towel. The duo exchanged positions five times on Lap 21 of 22, with Agius holding the final podium spot coming onto the final lap.

Manuel Gonzalez – P1

“I would say this is the best day of my life, because today is my first real victory in the Moto2 World Championship. Because last year in Japan it was a very special race. So, I want to savour this win to the full and enjoy it with the team because it was the first race with them, and they are really good in all areas. It’s incredible, it’s hard to find words for them. I’m so happy with the decision to join the Intact GP team because here I can show my true potential. But also, with Senna in P3 it’s an incredible day for us – congratulations to him and his crew. I’m incredibly happy about this weekend. My confidence is always high, but this weekend gives me the calm to go into the next race and show that I can be the best. We are already thinking about Argentina, and I am looking forward to Termas de Rio Hondo because the track there suits my riding style, whereas Buriram has not been a track for me in the past. So, I think we can do even better in a fortnight’ time. But we have to stay calm and work day by day to continue like this.”

The superb Gonzalez clinched a second Moto2 win, and Canet crossed the line to collect a valuable 20 points, Agius held onto third place to beat Moreira by 0.251s.

Senna Agius

“I am over the moon! I had a good start, stayed calm and learnt a lot at the beginning. Unfortunately, the moment with Vietti came, but I saw the chance. But it is what it is, and when I saw the penalty, I thought, ok, fair enough, because I hit his rear and he crashed. So, I did the long lap and then I was on a mission to catch Moreira. In the last few laps, I was on his rear wheel and passed him. It was the most physically demanding race I could have imagined. I’m so grateful to everyone working with me because I have such a strong mentality this year and the other side of our garage has the same ambition to win this year. Today’s double podium for the team means so much to them. I can see it in their eyes and that makes me happy. But we still have 21 races to go, where we have to keep doing everything right, stay consistent, keep working hard and to this as much as we can. Congratulations to Manu for the win!”

Marcos Ramirez (OnlyFans American Racing Team) rounded out the top five, the Andalucian eventually fending off Barry Baltus (Fantic Racing LINO SONEGO) and Jake Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) by just over one and a half seconds – the Briton acting as the lead Boscoscuro rider in Thailand.

Top rookie honours went the way of the incredibly impressive Daniel Holgado as the CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team star bagged P8, the Spaniard finishing ahead of Filip Salač (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) and Alonso Lopez (Team HDR Heidrun).

Further down, there were points gained by rookie Adrian Huertas (Italtrans Racing Team) in P14, with Indonesia’s Mario Aji (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) picking up a fifth P15 finish.

Moto2 Results

Moto2 Standings

Moto3

Moto3 rocketed into life at Chang International Circuit and Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) stayed clear of trouble to put in a masterclass and take a second career victory. In second, his rookie team-mate Alvaro Carpe became the first rider to take a rostrum on their Moto3 debut since Pedro Acosta in 2021, with Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) completing the podium to start the year strong.

The opening exchanges were hotly contested, with Rueda leading from the front from polesitter Matteo Bertelle (LEVEL-UP MTA), but the second-place baton was being swapped plenty of times as the riders fought for position. There was opening lap drama for rookies Cormac Buchanan (BOE Motorsports) and Eddie O’Shea (GRYD – MLav Racing), with the New Zealander taking out the Brit in a last corner-first lap incident.

With 13 laps to go, a lead group of 13 had formed after home hero Tatchakorn Buasri (Honda Team Asia) crashed out of contention with Valentin Perrone (Red Bull KTM Tech3). Then, Buasri’s team-mate Taiyo Furusato had his podium hopes end at Turn 3 with 12 laps to go. Now, it was a front bunch of 12 riders but two more then dropped out of the podium fight. Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse) went off at Turn 3 after a collision with David Muñoz (Liqui Moly Intact Dynavolt), the latter receiving a Long Lap Penalty but crashing out on Lap 13 before he had the chance to take it.

With all the incidents and scrapping in the group, Rueda took his opportunity to bolt clear and instilled a two-second gap between him and the likes of Stefano Nepa (SIC58 Squadra Corse), Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) and rookie revelation Carpe. With just five laps to go, Joel Kelso (LEVEL-UP MTA) got it all wrong at Turn 12 and took out Angel Piqueras (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI). The latter rejoined but Kelso was out and later given a double Long Lap for the next race. A tough end to what had been an encouraging opening weekend of the season for the Australian.

Joel Kelso – DNF

“Unlucky race despite a good feeling on the bike. With four laps to go, a passing attempt turned into a crash after accidental contact with another rider. On the positive side, the race pace was strong, and the bike has improved. Both encouraging signs for the future. The goal now is to come back stronger in Argentina and aim for great results with the team.”

The final laps were all about the battle for P2; Fernandez was looking at equalling his career-best finish, Carpe at a debut podium and Nepa – with more starts than any current Moto3 rider on the grid – a career-first podium. Up the road by 7 seconds, Rueda took a second win of his career and would find his teammate alongside him in P2, a magnificent debut for Carpe.

Fernandez took P3 and denied Nepa a first appearance on the rostrum, whilst Matteo Bertelle took P5 despite starting from pole.

There was late heartbreak for Ogden who crashed at the last corner on the last lap after contact with David Almansa (Leopard Racing) and despite his best efforts to not crash, it ended in the gravel, just metres from the finishing line. Dennis Foggia’s (CFMOTO Aspar Team) return to Moto3 thus saw him in P6, with Almansa P7, Rossi promoted into eighth and the top ten rounded out by Joel Esteban (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) and the recovering Lunetta. Points were scored on his debut for Ruche Moodley in 11th, whilst the rest of the scorers were Piqueras charging back up, Marcos Uriarte (GRYD – MLav Racing), Adrian Cruces (CIP Green Power) and Buchanan, who remounted after his Lap 1 fall to take the final place and point.

Cormac Buchanan – P15

“It feels really good to tick off my debut and I’m proud to score New Zealand’s first ever Moto3 point in the process. Now the hard work continues so we can add plenty more to the tally. I’m really happy with how the race started, especially overtaking a lot of riders and feeling really comfortable with the pace. We now have a platform to continue building from. I didn’t expect the rider in front to brake so early and I had to switch my line so I didn’t run into the back of him. This forced me offline into the corner and, with three bikes on my left, I just had nowhere to go and tucked the front. Unfortunately, another rider on the outside was collateral damage. It was really hot and humid, like being in a sauna on the bike. I’ve never experienced anything like it coming from little old Invercargill. There’s no doubt it was a race of attrition but I knew if I kept grinding the reward of crossing that finish line for the first time would come and to claim my first world championship point in the process was definitely a bonus. My team and I have worked incredibly hard this weekend to learn a new track in tough, sweltering conditions. The intensity of this Moto3 class is unreal and I couldn’t be more excited to be in amongst the action against the world’s best, flying the kiwi flag. Sure, we’ve had a couple of challenges as I navigate this step up into the world championship ranks, but there are plenty of positives to take away. Our race pace is strong, especially when riding alone which bodes really well. In fact, yesterday we were only 0.9 seconds off the fastest time. A definite work on is qualifying and extracting that one crucial lap time we need to be further up the grid.”

It’s advantage Rueda as we head to Argentina, with a warning shot from Carpe and he becomes the first debut podium in Moto3 since Acosta in 2021 – and at a track he’s never seen before.

Moto3 Results

Moto3 Standings

2025 MotoGP Calendar