Thailand, you were a blast, opening the season here was truly amazing with many Thai motorcycle fans giving us an incredible atmosphere in this 2025 MotoGP™ World Championship season opener, setting the stage for a great campaign as we begin our world tour. Track conditions were once again difficult with extreme heat at the Chang International Circuit on Sunday, as the premier class lined up on the grid for the first main event of the year. From his 20th place on the grid, Enea Bastianini made the show and gave us a piece of his ADN, an incredible second half, to finish the Grand Prix of Thailand, in P9. Maverick Viñales finished just at the doors of the points, in 16th, on his first race with Red Bull KTM Tech3.
Grand Prix of Thailand
Wow! Enea Bastianini gave us a good one today for his first main race in orange. The weekend had been tricky so far for the Italian, with a disappointing qualifying in 20th. However, once lights were out today at 15:00 local time for 26 laps, it was going to be a different story. Bestia gained 3 places in the opening lap to exit lap 1 behind Miguel Oliveira, as he passed through teammate Maverick Viñales, Luca Marini and Fabio Quartararo, who had dropped positions. Marini answered back in the next lap, with Enea back in 18th after 3 laps. Pedro Acosta’s crash on lap 4 earned Bastia another position, in addition to his move on Oliveira, as he moved up at the doors of the point-scoring positions. Bastianini settled in this position for a while, and after 10 laps, he found himself 1.1 seconds from Marini, as both were lapping at similar times. The HRC rider moved ahead of Alex Rins, leaving the 42 just ahead of Enea who was closing the gap on his opponent. The gap reduced, and as soon as he got the opportunity, the Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider overtook the Yamaha rider, now sitting in P14 after 15 laps, since Joan Mir’s crash in that same lap earned him an additional position. Sooner than later, Firmin Aldeguer and Raul Fernandez were behind, and Bastia was up to 12th with just 6 laps to go. He moved past Marini to P11, to find himself 1.3 seconds from Brad Binder after 20 laps. The Italian increased his pace, lapping faster than his fellow KTM teammate Binder. Was he going to catch him with just 5 laps to go? The 33 increased his efforts to move up to 8th, leaving Jack Miller and Fabio DiGiannantonio in sight of Bestia. Miller dropped, and that was a top 10 for Enea, and 0.2 seconds were now separating him from Di Gia'. Sector 2 was the right one to make the move to P9, as just one lap and a half remained. Binder defended his ground, and that meant Enea Bastianini crossed the finish line in 9th. 11 places gained, what a show that was from the Beast!
On his side, Maverick Viñales was looking forward to his first long race on the RC16 to continue the learning, after already experiencing a sprint on Saturday, when we saw him take P14. As lights were out, Maverick did not quite have the start he was hoping for. Stuck on the inside in the first corner, he dropped to P21 behind Thai rookie Somkiat Chantra, while Marc Marquez had taken another rocket start, with brother Alex just behind, and Francesco Bagnaia in 3rd in a similar scenario to the sprint. The #12 seemed to struggle settling early into a decent pace, as he found himself one second behind the Thai rookie after 5 laps, but as the laps went by, he progressively started recovering the time lost. With 10 laps gone, Viñales was still in P20, now 0.7 seconds from the rookie, but the pace was increasing and he was lapping just under the 1’32, quicker than the four riders ahead. He finally got his opportunity in lap 18 to overtake Chantra, but the Thai star defended in the last corner. Top Gun did not let go and finally got the best of the rookie, to sit in 17th with 5 laps left. 1.4 seconds then separated him from Fabio Quartararo, who himself moved past Alex Rins as he was losing ground. Maverick took the chance to go past the #42, to finally see the checkered flag in 16th, just at the doors of the points. A lot of information and learnings to take to the next round in two weeks, as MotoGP™ returns to Argentina for the first time in two years, for the Gran Premio de la República Argentina in Termas, on March 14-16.
ENEA BASTIANINI: "After the warm up, I feel like we made a good step so I headed to the race positive, but I did not really have the top 10 in mind. At the race start, we were quite aggressive but I made some mistakes. From the middle of the race, the feeling was better, I tried to ride much smoother, and I was lapping faster than some riders ahead. This race was really important for us, to understand my strong points, but also my weak ones, and we confirmed my sensations. I lose in the middle of the corners, especially in the slow ones, and that means we lose a few km/h, which is not good for the exit, especially with new tyres. One thing I am really happy about today though, is that I have not lost one of my strongest points on this bike, which is the end of the races, so for this I am really satisfied. Let’s see how the bike will behave in Argentina!"
MAVERICK VIÑALES: "The weekend has been up and down, we have been trying to understand the bike, the feeling during qualifying, sprint and main race, and I think that now we have a starting point. All we can do now is to improve! Today, I did not have a good grip, especially at the front, so I could not make proper lap times, but the rear was not too bad, we managed it well. I just had to give up a lot with the front and brake earlier in the corners, so it was not easy, but we learnt and we will improve in the next round."
NICOLAS GOYON, Team Manager: "The Red Bull KTM Tech3 team leaves Thailand with a big smile after Enea Bastianini’s incredible performance today. The winter tests were not easy at all for him, and today’s P9 is a great reward for him. He ended up just one tenth from the best KTM of the day. Enea is a strong finisher, and today we saw that he can still be one on the KTM. He rode his fastest lap very late, and we are happy about this result for our first race together. It was a bit trickier for Maverick Viñales this weekend. He narrowly missed Q2 on Friday, and the story was different all weekend. He is still learning the bike, and he had a few issues during the race, but I think he just needs more time on the RC16, and he will be soon fighting with the others. Thank you everyone for the weekend, we will pack and head to Argentina in two weeks!"
RACE RESULTS
1. Marc Marquez (SPA), Ducati Lenovo Team, 39'37.244
2. Alex Marquez (SPA), BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP, +1.732
3. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA), Ducati Lenovo Team, +2.398
9. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +20.053
16. Maverick Viñales (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +28.770
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDING
1. Marc Marquez (SPA), Ducati Lenovo Team, 37 pts
2. Alex Marquez (SPA), BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP, 29 pts
3. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA), Ducati Lenovo Team, 23 pts
9. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 7 pts
18. Maverick Viñales (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 0 pts
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2024 - F. Bagnaia (ITA) - 1'28.700, 184.8 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2025 - M. Marquez (SPA) - 1'30.637, 180.8 km/h
Best Pole: 2024 - F. Bagnaia (ITA) - 1'28.700, 184.8 km/h
Top Speed: 2024 - P. Acosta (SPA) - 340.6 km/h
