Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) claimed victory at the Thai GP, edging out Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) to close the Championship gap to just 17 points with two rounds remaining. Sunday in Buriram delivered high drama, packed with intense moments and pivotal flashpoints. Here are the key Talking Points from Round 18.

“A bit on the limit? No. Over the limit”

After crashing out of the fight for victory, Marc Marquez rejoined the race on Sunday in Thailand to salvage points, ultimately finishing P11. However, he became embroiled in a heated incident with former teammate Joan Mir, resulting in a penalty for Marquez after sending the #36 wide and off track. It’s fair to say that both riders held different opinions on the matter.

Mir: “A bit on the limit? No. Over the limit. It was very similar to the sprint race in Jerez. The same thing happened. I will not give any comment, because every time I give a comment, it turns in the opposite way for me. So I let you to judge these things.”

Marquez: “Before the brake point I was parallel with Joan. But for me, what happened is that he had lost three positions on the previous lap, and he didn’t want to give up, and at one point he released the brake and went in, and I didn't have any other option because I had no rear brake after the crash. I said ‘OK, contact.’ We had the contact. I knew that I would receive penalty, but then I said, ‘OK, I will attack, I will catch the rider in front, I will overtake him, I will let him pass again, and then overtake again.’ And that is what I did.

“I have nothing more to say about him”

Indeed, Mir wasn’t the only rider to be left frustrated by one of his on track rivals, with Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) also crashing following an ambitious move from Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing). The Frenchman enjoyed a fantastic start to the Thai GP, and looked like he could string a podium attack together before the intervention of the Italian, which earned Morbidellu a LLP before he crashed out of the race himself.

Quartararo: “I didn't even see, but the speed he arrived at Turn 8, I think he was quite far in the braking and just released the brake. So I think he was a little bit too optimistic move. Especially this morning he was really fast, he just had to wait one straight and he would have overtaken me at Turn 3. I mean, there's still 20 laps more. I don't think those three corners will be starting to make the podium or the victory. So I have nothing more to say about him.”

“It's good to see him back”

Andrea Iannone returns to MotoGP™, stepping for the absent Fabio di Giannantonio at the Malaysian GP. It will be the Italian’s first appearance in the premier class since 2019, and as rumours of his return surfaced, some current riders on the grid welcomed him back.

Bagnaia: “When you have the chance to take a MotoGP™ bike you should take it. Iannone will enjoy himself a lot, though Malaysia won't be easy."

Marquez: "It will be nice to see him there because we had a nice fight"

"It will be super difficult, straight away in MotoGP™ four years later, to be fast. Maybe he's Superman, maybe Iannone can do it because he as a lot of talent."

Martin: "It's good to see him back in MotoGP™."

"He's demonstrating that he's still at a good level. At World Ducati week he was one second faster than me! It’s a good opportunity to show people that he is still strong."

“I don’t want to stop! I don’t want to stop!”

For Diggia, he brought the curtain down on his season with a superb ride to P4. The Italian will now undergo surgery before returning next season, though

Di Giannantonio: “These seven races in two months have been really tough for the shoulder. We've done an amazing job at home. It's been tough, believe me guys. It's been really tough to be that competitive at that level.

“I had to go through many hours of physio, many hours with pain, many practices with pain, and this I think has been a fantastic end of the season, because we finish the season with two different tracks, different conditions, with two fourth places, that is an amazing achievement.

“Now it's difficult to stop, it's like I did all the laps saying, ‘Ah, I don't want to stop! I don't want to stop!’ But we have to be clever because it was the right thing to do, we decided. And it will be good to stop, make the surgery, recover, and try to be 100% for next year.

"Luckily we didn’t make a mess"

The podium battle went right down to the wire, with Pedro Acosta’s (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) charging late to deny factory KTM counterpart Jack Miller a first podium since Jerez 2023. It proved a fantastic late battle, with neither rider willing to give in an inch as they went wheel-to-wheel, but ultimately, it was the rookie who won out.

Miller: “Tried to throw everything I could at it to stay on the podium, but it wasn't to be today.

“I was throwing everything I had at it, honestly. When Pedro was coming up the inside of me and we sort of nudged each other on the exit of Turn 3, and then we going towards 4 and I was on the outside, I thought, ‘This is either going to go one or two ways, either gonna make it or I'm not’.

“I was able to get it done, but he came back at me at 5 and I tried to square him up but wasn't quite able to make it more in front. And yeah, that was tha

t. Once he was sort of on the outside of me there, I tried to crack it and get over, but she kind of lit up as soon as I got on the centre of the tyre. It was done!"

Acosta: "It was a super nice battle. Also, I knew that it was a podium battle. It was a case of now or never for this. It’s true that it’s always super nice to battle with Jack because he’s quite aggressive but inside the limits for this. I really enjoyed it. Luckily we didn’t make a mess because if not, this afternoon in the garage was going to be a long afternoon. We need to be happy and see how we can improve the first part of the races."