Marc Marquez wins dominant Thai MotoGP sprint on Ducati debut

Buriram, Thailand: Six-time world champion Marc Marquez romped to victory in the sprint race Saturday at the season-opening Thai MotoGP for a dream debut with the factory Ducati team.

The Spanish great started from pole ahead of younger brother Alex and never looked back for a statement win in the 13-lap sprint.

Second at a sweltering Buriram was younger brother Alex, with Marc Marquez´s factory Ducati team-mate and two-time former world champion Francesco Bagnaia third.

Japanese rookie Ai Ogura was fourth on his MotoGP debut.

The grand prix, the first of 22 in the campaign, is on Sunday and Marquez will be hot favourite from pole.

“It was a perfect Saturday,” the 32-year-old said after only the second sprint victory of his career.

“The feeling is great with the bike. Happy to start my new journey with Ducati this way.

“Let´s see if we can minimum be on the podium tomorrow but if we can we will fight for the victory.”

Marquez has been fast all week, going quickest in opening practice on Friday before being pipped by brother Alex in the afternoon session.

Marquez enjoyed a strong pre-season with the factory Ducati, having joined from Honda, and is strongly fancied to win a first world crown since 2019.

Marquez and Bagnaia have been hailed as a dream team but some observers have cautioned that the high-octane mix of two fast high-profile racers could prove too combustible.

The start of the new MotoGP season has been overshadowed by the absence of world champion Jorge Martin.

The Spaniard suffered fractures to his right hand and left foot in a horror crash during pre-season testing in Malaysia.

Then his Aprilia team said this week that Martin suffered another mishap in training and had to have more surgery. Aprilia now say he will miss both Buriram and the next race, in Argentina in mid-March.