Thailand MotoGP Race Results: Marquez denies Quartararo on last corner

Marc Marquez has clinched his sixth MotoGP World Championship title in ruthless style with a stunning eighth win of the season after denying Fabio Quartararo a well-deserved first success on the final corner.

A race that built in suspension as Marquez stalked Quartararo from the start right up to the final lap, though the pole-sitting Frenchman conducted the perfect race as he stretched the field and didn’t put a wheel wrong under intense pressure from his rival, he couldn’t quite resist Marquez when it mattered.

Indeed, after getting the ideal start to lead into turn one, Quartararo quickly got the hammer down to pull away, initially looking as though he had the measure of Marquez as he committed a fierce pace out front.

However, after Marquez reeled him in with some record laps mid-race, he sat behind Quartararo throughout the second half and looked primed for an attack in the closing stages. Even so, the Frenchman’s sheer ability under braking kept out-foxing Marquez, forcing him to leave it until the final lap to make his pitch for victory.

The move looked to have come on the long run down to Turn 2, the top speed advantage of the Honda versus the Yamaha getting him ahead for the first time in the race. Nonetheless, Quartararo stayed close  for a late braking manoeuvre into the final corner but couldn’t quite get it turned in tight enough to prevent Marquez from cutting back up the inside and snatch the win on the short run to the line.

Regardless of whether he finished first or second, Marquez’s title success was almost a foregone conclusion as he finished well clear of the only rider who could prevent him from winning the title today, Andrea Dovizioso.

Heartbreak for crestfallen Fabio Quartararo

Indeed, many may have assumed Marquez would settle for second in order to wrap up his sixth world title at a canter – not least as Quartararo was making it so hard for the Spaniard to get the edge – but he wouldn’t be denied.

Heartbreak for Quartararo again after losing victory at Misano in a similar fashion, the Frenchman was evidently upset as they came across the line but can take some heart from the fact it needed a perfect performance from one of the greatest riders of all time to get the better of him.

Moreover, the fifth podium of his rookie season brings up level on points with Valentino Rossi for sixth in the standings, albeit just ahead by virtue of his stronger results.

Maverick Vinales endured another frustrating race, the Spaniard arguably a match for the two riders in front of him but unable to mount a challenge after a slow first quarter of the race that saw him lose touch with the leaders, exactly what happened in Misano and Silverstone.

Dovizioso will now look to seal the runners-up spot now the title is officially out of reach, the Ducati man’s strong start lifting him from seventh to fourth but no higher.

Alex Rins was one of the few to make any real headway in the race, recovering from a poor start to climb to fifth position ahead of Franco Morbidelli, Joan Mir and Rossi, the Italian comprehensively outperformed by his Yamaha counterparts to finish 19secs off the win.

Danilo Petrucci endured another lacklustre race to slip from fifth on the grid to ninth, while Takaaki Nakagami showed strong pace on the year-old Honda to secure a top ten finish in a race of just two 

retirements. Pecco Bagnaia and Cal Crutchlow followed up in 11th and 12th.

Elsewhere, there was disappointment for Aleix Espargaro as he was forced to retire his Aprilia while running inside the top ten, while Pol Espargaro brought some points to KTM on a tough weekend after team-mate Mika Kallio crashed out.

Jack Miller made strong headway to finish 14th for two points having been forced to start from the pit lane after stalling on the grid, while Andrea Iannone scored the final point for Aprilia

2019 Thailand MotoGP Race Results