Marc Marquez won a thrilling
inaugural Thailand MotoGP to extend his lead in the championship in pursuit of
a fifth title. MotoGP champion Marc Marquez snatched the lead from Andrea
Dovizioso at the death to win the inaugural Thailand Grand Prix and
take a huge stride toward a third successive title.
After fierce wheel-to-wheel racing
in the closing laps at Buriram, the Honda-riding Spaniard nosed in front at the
last corner and edged the Italian by 0.115 seconds to prevail in a thrilling
duel. The win extended the four-times champion's lead to 77 points over
Ducati's Dovizioso with four races left, and Marquez can wrap up the series in
Japan in two weeks with a win at Motegi.
Marquez now has 271 points, 77
ahead of Dovizioso with a maximum of 100 available in the final four races
of season, making him a strong favourite to retain his title. Marquez also
made history over the weekend as he became the first rider to climb out of Q1
to claim pole position, the 50th of his stunning career. Thailand's first
MotoGP is being held in the rural town of Buri Ram in the northeast, about a
five-hour drive from the capital Bangkok.
Buri
Ram has seen explosive growth through investment in football and racing sports,
and expectations for the event were high. Thousands of hotel rooms and jobs
have been created through a football stadium and the 2014 Chang International
Circuit, the only Formula One grade track in the country. The town has a
population of about 30,000 but more than double that have turned out to see the
debut spectacle, which attracted fans from all over the country and abroad.
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