Álex Márquez tops the timing sheets in Buriram as the sun sets on the first day of testing.
We’re into the final two days of testing before the season opener in Thailand. It’s the last chance for riders and teams to decide on their bike spec and aero setups before next weekend’s race. There’s also familiar faces returning to the track, with Fabio Quartararo back following his injury in Sepang. Jorge Martín is also making his first on-track appearance since the Valencia test in November, having had two surgeries just two months ago.
The pressure is building, and here’s how it went down at day one of the Buriram Test.
Morning Session
Álex Rins was the first out of the pits, kicking off the morning session on his Monster Energy Yamaha. We didn’t have to wait long until the first incident of the day though, as reigning champ Marc Márquez lost the front early at the final corner. Luckily, both bike and rider escape without any serious damage. As if to prove a point, Márquez sticks it on top with a 1:30.151, whilst teammate Francesco Bagnaia is just 0.121 seconds behind him.
With the first hour out of the way, it’s unsurprisingly the Ducati duo of Márquez and Bagnaia topping the timing sheets. Marco Bezzecchi currently sits in third, with Luca Marini fourth and Álex Márquez in fifth. Jorge Martín is having a positive start to his return too, currently sitting in a fairly respectable eighth place.
At 11:33am local time, Pedro Acosta becomes the first to stray into the 1:29’s, sticking his KTM 0.199 seconds ahead of Márquez. Just 10 minutes later Bagnaia takes the top spot by 0.024 seconds. As the midday sun shines down on Buriram, Martín engages “Martínator Mode” and goes to the top of the timings with a 1:29.813. Marini moves into second place, just 0.027 seconds down on Martín’s time.
There’s a small flurry of crashes, starting with Ai Ogura coming off at Turn 1. Almost immediately after, Márquez drops it into Turn 5, before quickly jumping back on his Ducati and re-joining the session. 10 minutes later and it’s Jack Miller who crashes out at Turn 8. Most take this as a sign to break for lunch, although Raúl Fernández decides to give it one more run. He’s soon followed by Fabio Quartararo, who gets some solo riding time out on track before taking a break.
Afternoon Session
At 3:15pm local time, riders begin to filter back out to start the afternoon session. Within 20 minutes Bezzecchi raises the bar just that little bit higher, setting a 1:29.462.
An hour later, the Red Flags are waved and the session is brought to a stop. Officials say it’s due to “track conditions”, and there’s checks being done on the air fence at Turn 1. With a pause in proceedings, it’s Álex Márquez in the number one spot, having pipped Bezzecchi by 0.200 seconds before the red flags came out.
The session gets the Green Flag and restarts at 4:40pm local time. There’s just under an hour and 20 minutes left on the clock. By 4:56pm, it’s just Ogura, Fernández, Quartararo and rookie Toprak Razgatlıoğlu out on track. Trouble soon brews for Quartararo, with what looks like technical issues on his Yamaha. With all of the problems he faced last season, it’s the last thing he wants now, and he clearly expresses his frustrations in a sweary display.
The Red Flags come out for Turn 1 “track conditions” again at 5:20pm. It’s a much shorter stoppage this time though, with the session back underway at 5:30pm. As the clock ticks down, Marc Márquez moves to second behind his brother, with Morbidelli, Bezzecchi and Zarco rounding off the top five. With just 10 minutes of the session to go, the top six riders are covered by just 0.224 seconds.
Final Standings
At 6:00pm local time, and with the sun setting on Buriram, the first day of testing is done. It’s fairly close across the board, with the top 15 all within the 1:29’s. Álex Márquez clinches the top spot on day one, and all eyes now turn to tomorrow for the final day of pre-season testing.
Feature image courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool