Jorge Martín began the MotoGP Thai GP by leading the first free practice session in Buriram. The second-placed rider in the championship was consistently one of the fastest in the session, as has been customary.
The start of the Thai GP saw Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati) leading after the initial flying laps, ahead of Maverick Viñales (Aprilia) by more than half a second. With the second flying laps, there was a change in the lead, with Álex Márquez (Gresini/Ducati) moving to the front of the pack.
As is usual in the first few minutes, lap times were rapidly improving, and changes on the timesheet were frequent. The Monster Energy Yamaha team had reasons to smile as Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli took the first two positions in that order. The Frenchman would test a new exhaust system in this session. However, this situation was short-lived as they were overtaken by two Aprilia riders: Viñales and Raúl Fernández (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team).
With his fifth flying lap, Álex Márquez reclaimed the lead but for a brief moment before Viñales returned to the top, being just two thousandths faster. The timesheet then stabilized, with Martín in third, Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini/Ducati) in fourth, and Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia) in fifth. A new leader emerged about 11 minutes from the checkered flag, with Aleix Espargaró being 0.313s faster than Viñales.
With six minutes remaining, Martín moved back to the front, while Morbidelli climbed to third. However, the Italian lost that position to Viñales, who also later overtook his teammate Aleix Espargaró to secure second place.
No one was able to displace Martín from the top spot until the end of the session, with Viñales finishing 0.238s behind. Pol Espargaró (GasGas Tech3/KTM) surprised with the third-fastest time thanks to his final lap, followed by Aleix Espargaró and Morbidelli in the top five. The championship leader, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), finished tenth, 0.987s off the pace.
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