Marquez on Ducati debut wins sprint at Thailand MotoGP

BURIRAM, Thailand - Six-times MotoGP champion Marc Marquez made a dream start to life at factory Ducati as he led from lap one to the chequered flag to win the sprint at the season-opening Thailand Grand Prix on Saturday, as his younger brother Alex Marquez in came second.

Twice MotoGP champion and Marquezs new teammate Francesco Bagnaia finished third to complete an all-Ducati podium.

It was a perfect Saturday, Marquez said. The feeling is great with the bike. I got out and I was consistent, and then I saw that the gap was already there, and then I tried to manage.

Happy to start my new journey with Ducati Lenovo. In this way, tomorrow will be the most important, but already we achieved the first point of a sprint race victory. So lets see if tomorrow, minimum, we need to be in the podium.

But if we can, we will try to fight for the victory.

The Buriram International Circuit pole-sitter rocketed off the line as Alex struggled to match his pace.

Marquez, 32, now leads the championship for the first time since 2019 after collecting 12 points and will have the opportunity to stretch it further in Sundays race. REUTERS

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