Jorge Martin records double in Thailand to close the MotoGP points gap

From pole position, Saturday’s sprint race was a relatively calm affair for the Prima Pramac Ducati rider beating Brad Binder by nearly a second with Luca Marini third.

Bagnaia finished seventh.

Fast forward to Sunday and the 26-lap feature race was simply sensational.

Martin led into Turn 1 and set the pace from the front.

South African Binder, on the Red Bull KTM, forced his way into second by lap four with Bagnaia joining the podium battle by lap 13, after Alex Marquez crashed out.

The closing stages produced an epic battle between the two Ducatis and the lone KTM.

Binder waited until seven laps from home before making his move for the lead.

Both men swapped places and paintwork over the next laps before Binder finally made it stick on lap 22.

The race wasn’t over and on the penultimate lap Martin went under the South African on the brakes at Turn 2.

Despite Binder and Bagnaia’s best efforts they could not find a way past the Spaniard, who rode a brilliant final lap to claim his fourth double of the season.

Binder crossed the line in second but was dropped a place for exceeding the track limits on the final lap moving Bagnaia into runner-up spot.

Martin was delighted.

“For sure it was one of my top two races ever,” he said. “This feeling is amazing because today I wasn't better than them.

"I had the same tools, the same tyres, but I didn't have better pace than them.

“I pushed on the last lap like it was qualifying.

"One more lap and I wouldn’t win, but today I did, so I’m super happy.”

Pedro Acosta will have to wait to claim the Moto2 title after finishing a lonely second behind pole-setter Fermin Aldeguer, who won his second GP of the season.

Tony Arbolino’s slim title chances were kept alive with a fourth place in the 22-lap race.

Colombian David Alonso (GASGAS Aspar M3) held off Taiyo Furusato, Collin Veijer, Jaume Masia and Deniz Oncu in the race to the flag, after a hectic final lap, for his fourth Moto3 win of his rookie campaign.

Masia extends his championship lead to 17 points with three rounds remaining.