Jorge Martin snatches victory from Brad Binder in dramatic Thailand GP, closes gap to Francesco Bagnaia

Jorge Martin clinched victory at the Thailand Grand Prix with a tactical masterclass and reduced his championship disadvantage to Francesco Bagnaia to 13 points.

The Pramac Ducati rider controlled the pace at the front and prevailed in a late battle versus Brad Binder.

"This feeling is amazing because today I wasn't better than them," Martin confessed in parc ferme. "I had the same tools, the same tyres, but I didn't have better pace than them.

"I had to push more than 100 per cent on the last laps to stay in front, to overtake back Brad [Binder], to overtake back Pecco [Bagnaia], and then pushed on the last lap like it was qualifying. The pace was great, the management was great.

"I know hard moments are tough, but they make you stronger."

Braving a challenge from Luca Marini, pole sitter Martin held on to the lead at lights out and took the holeshot into Turn 1. While the Spaniard stayed in front, a feisty scrap for positions ensued behind him.

Runner-up spot exchanged hands multiple times before eventually falling to Binder who established himself as Martin's first chaser on Lap 4.

Bagnaia meanwhile was in trouble early on, dropping multiple positions in the opening stages. Falling as far down as seventh, the title defender had work to do while Martin and Binder controlled their pace at the front.

Making his way up the order, Bagnaia eventually inherited third on Lap 13 when Alex Marquez crashed out of proceedings at Turn 10. From there, the top three made a gradual breakaway.

Martin did exactly what he needed to; controlling the pace, staying out of trouble, and, crucially, preserving his rear tyre. The same, however, could be said about Binder who continued to closely stalk the Ducati.

Finally, Binder attempted a first overtake on Lap 20. Although the KTM rider briefly took the lead, Martin reclaimed him on the cut-back and the order remained as it was. They repeated the same procedure a lap later before Binder finally managed to make a move stick at the third time of asking on Lap 22.

With Martin and Bagnaia in second and third now, the question arose whether the two title contenders would now disregard the race win and focus solely on each other. As it turned out, Martin had no such intentions. The Spaniard squeezed Binder wide on the penultimate lap to take back the lead and rode a defensive line from there.

With a KTM now between him and his championship rival, Bagnaia was forced to attack to limit the damage and attempted a spectacular manoeuvre round the outside through Turn 12. However, he could not make it stick and with his tyres now fading, Bagnaia had to settle for third.

Out front, Martin defended for his life against an unrelenting Binder and managed to bring it over the line for his fourth win of the season. Binder took the chequered flag as runner-up.

"I tried my best today, I left nothing on the table," he said. "Behind Jorge [Martin], I tried my absolute best to keep as much rubber for the end as I could and when I saw my opportunity, I tried to go. But one lap after that the base rubber hit and that was it for my rear tyre.

"I'm really happy with the way we rode today; my team did a terrific job and I'm sure the win is coming."

Runner-up would not stay with Binder though as the South African was immediately demoted one position to third due to exceeding track limits on the final lap. Instead, Bagnaia inherited second to limit the damage to his title defence ambitions.

"I felt like I was in a game room; it was incredible, like, impossible," he commented on his race. "Coming back was not easy for the tyre consumption, on the last lap I was a bit on the limit.

"But finishing second is positive for the championship considering the weekend and considering where I was at the start. So I'm very happy overall and we will continue like this."

While there was nothing to separate the top three, indeed forming the fourth closest podium in premier class history, some gaps had opened behind them.

Marco Bezzecchi came out best of the rest following an impressive comeback race to fourth. Aleix Espargaro, one of the early front-runners, came home in fifth ahead of Fabio Quartararo and Marc Marquez.

Marini had looked in great nick for most of the race but eventually fell victim to fading tyres and had to settle for eighth. Fabio Di Giannantonio and Johann Zarco rounded out the top 10.

"Hard moments are tough, but they make you stronger," were Martin's words post-race and, indeed, the Spaniard showed some excellent learning today.

Having destroyed his tyres by pushing too hard in the lead and paid the price for it last week in Australia, Martin played this race tactically. He controlled the pace and preserved his tyres to be in an advantageous position over Binder and Bagnaia in the end, earning him the win in Thailand.

It would have been easy to despair following the loss of the championship lead right after having claimed it, but Martin demonstrated today that he is far from flustered and the title race is far from over.

1/26: MARTIN BEATS MARINI TO LEAD - Marini challenges pole sitter Martin for the lead, but the Spaniard prevails to take the holeshot into Turn 1. A Espargaro is on the move and takes second off Marini.

4/26: BINDER INTO SECOND - Binder is the man on the move here as he claims A Espargaro for second and goes to hunt down Martin.

6/26: TOP DUO ON THE PACE - Martin and Binder aren't exactly breaking away, but they are putting a bit of a gap between themselves and A Marquez who has moved up into third.

13/26: MARQUEZ CRASHES, BAGNAIA ONTO PODIUM SPOT - A Marquez exits the race into the gravel at Turn 10. Bagnaia inherits third from the Spaniard.

15/26: CLOSE TOP THREE - Bagnaia has now definitely caught the front-runners with Martin, Binder, and Bagnaia now holding almost a second on an advantage over Marini.

20/26: EVERYTHING TO LOSE V NOTHING TO LOSE - There's an overtake attempt from Binder through Turn 9. He briefly claims the position, but Martin gets him on the cut-back.

22/26: BINDER MAKES IT STICK - At the third time of asking, Binder makes an overtake on Martin stick. The battle between the duo has of course allowed Bagnaia to close in. There is nothing to separate the front three. 25/26: MARTIN BACK IN FRONT - Martin attacks Binder and squeezes him wide to reclaim the lead.

25/26: BAGNAIA ATTEMPTS MOVE - Bagnaia has a go around the outside through Turn 12. He can't make it stick though and remains in P3.

26/26: SUPER DEFENSIVE FROM MARTIN - Binder is trying but not risking anything stupid, especially with Martin going super defensive into Turn 12.

26/26: MARTIN WINS THAI GP, GIFT FOR BAGNAIA IN SECOND - Martin claims the win at the Thai GP with a tactical masterclass. Behind, Binder takes the chequered flag in second, but is immediately demoted by a position due to exceeding track limits on the final lap. Bagnaia inherits runner-up position.

- - -

TNT Sports presents the premium live sports rights previously carried by BT Sport including the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Gallagher Premiership Rugby, Investec Champions Cup, EPCR Challenge Cup, MotoGP, Cricket, UFC, Boxing and WWE. The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports, Eurosport and entertainment in one destination. You can also watch TNT Sports through BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media.