The lineup for the pole position fight at the Thai MotoGP GP is now complete. The surprising Fabio Quartararo and Fabio Di Giannantonio secured the last two spots in the second qualifying, being the fastest of the Q1 in Buriram.
At the start of Q1, Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) led, with Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46/Ducati) in second and Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) in third, nearly two-tenths of a second outside the qualification zone.
In the second flying laps, the lead changed, with Quartararo moving into first, pushing Binder to second. Di Giannantonio dropped to fourth but immediately responded to take the lead, edging out Quartararo by 0.008s.
As the riders entered the pits midway through the session, Di Giannantonio and Quartararo held qualifying positions, with Binder just 20 thousandths of a second behind the top two.
In the last five minutes, the riders returned to the track. Binder set a new fastest lap, pushing Quartararo out of the qualifying zone. Then, the Frenchman impressively saved a crash. Di Giannantonio then reclaimed the lead.
But it was only in the final minute that the best times appeared. Quartararo set the fastest time, beating Di Giannantonio by 0.023s, and Binder fell to third. The South African was unable to improve further and missed out by 0.129s, starting 13th, just ahead of Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia).
Also missing the cut were four other factory riders: Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM), Álex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha), Joan Mir (Repsol Honda), and his teammate Luca Marini, who will start 21st, second-to-last on the grid for both races.
Results:
