After a Monday spent in Phillip Island to recharge the batteries, the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 squad has now made their way to the northeast of Thailand capital city, Bangkok, to Buriram, for the PT Grand Prix of Thailand, the penultimate round of the fly aways. The Chang International Circuit will play a key role next season, as it will open the 2025 MotoGP™ World Championship for the first-time ever, a huge moment for Thai motorcycle fans always coming in big numbers every season.
The Australian adventure sadly came to an early end for rookie Pedro Acosta who was forced to withdraw from the Australian Grand Prix following his sprint crash. After a quite violent highside, the Spaniard was left with a left shoulder trauma, but luckily nothing was broken after further medical checks. The few days between Phillip Island and Buriram have been crucial for the Spaniard who has been taking care of his body and recovering step by step, and Acosta is arriving in Thailand with much less pain. However, he will have to undergo a medical check on Thursday to understand his ability to participate in the Thai Grand Prix. If he is able to, the rookie will for sure be looking to return to point-scoring positions, after three DNFs in a row across Japan and Australia.
After a positive sprint result last Saturday with the first Tissot Sprint points scored since the Spanish Grand Prix back in April, Augusto Fernandez struggled in the main race and could not do better than a 17th position, a rather disappointing result below expectations. The 4.554 km layout incorporating 12 turns is one that has suited the Pierer Mobility bikes pretty well in the past seasons, and Fernandez will be looking to feed from that, with much more experience than 2023 where he could not manage to score points, despite a strong qualifying.
As we are setting up in a new country and a new time zone, the Thai GP should be a bit easier to follow if you are not planning to travel to the Chang International Circuit. The MotoGP™ show will start on Friday with Free Practice 1 at 10:45 local time (GMT+7), which will be followed by the crucial Practice session of Friday afternoon at 15:00. On Saturday, the qualifying sessions will start at 10:50, shortly after Free Practice 2 which will see riders hit the track at 10:10. In the afternoon, Thai fans will be able to witness the madness of the Tissot Sprint, as lights go out at 15:00 LT for 13 laps. Finally, the main race of the PT Thailand Grand Prix will start at 15:00 on Sunday, for twenty-six laps. Just a little reminder as well that there will be daylight saving time changes in some regions on Sunday!