Marc Marquez of Honda moved a step closer to the MotoGP 2018 championship crown after snatching the lead from Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso at the death to win the inaugural Thailand Grand Prix on Sunday. The inaugural PTT Thailand Grand Prix was held at Chang International Circuit at the less known town of Buriram in the north-eastern Thailand. Yamaha's Maverick Vinales finished third in the race.
Thailand's first MotoGP gave fans a thrilling race experience, who cheered for their favourite riders despite the scorching heat. Marc Marquez who dramatically won the pole position on Saturday in the second qualifying round, led the opening four laps but Yamaha's Valentino Rossi tracked him and managed to slipstream his way past the defending champion in lap five. But Dovizioso gained the lead on lap 11, and hung on to the lead from there as he and Spain's Marquez began to up the pace.
After fierce wheel-to-wheel racing on the closing laps, the Honda-riding Spaniard nosed in front at the last corner and edged the Italian by 0.115 seconds in a thrilling duel.The win extended Marquez's lead to 77 points over Ducati's Dovizioso with four races remaining.
Only one rider from both Ducati and Honda finished the race as Dani Pedrosa of Honda crashed out on the lap 9 at turn 5 and Jorge Lorenzo of Ducati sat outside the race due to injury.
Meanwhile, Yamaha riders Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales made an impressive come back after making a few changes to their bikes from the previous s races.
Marquez now has 271 points making him a strong favourite to retain his title.
