Ai Ogura is Moto2 World Champion in record-breaking Thai GP for Pirelli

Record performance of slick tyres even on damp track
 
“This weekend, we have witnessed some good and hard-fought races, also thanks to the brilliant performance of Pirelli slick tyres, despite the non-optimal track conditions due to the heavy rain that fell in the early hours of Sunday morning, which completely reset the track evolution, leaving the surface very damp and, at times, completely wet. In particular, at the start of the Moto3™ race, the track was declared wet because only the trajectory had dried slightly, but, despite this, basically all the riders opted to begin with slick tyres and the results speak for themselves: Lunetta set the new race lap record on lap ten, improving the previous 2023 record by more than a second, and the pace was very high, especially considering that, compared to last year, there was an average improvement per lap of almost a second, and as many as 19 riders lapped under the previous best race lap. It is difficult to expect better performances than these from slick tyres that raced on a track that was ultimately still wet. For the Moto2™ race, the track dried out much more, and the race was declared dry. The pace was very high here too, with Ogura setting the new race record lap on lap twelve. I would like to finish by congratulating Ai Ogura and the MT Helmets-MSI team for the world title, and Zen Mitani for being crowned champion of the Asia Talent Cup, for what was definitely a successful weekend for Japanese riders.”

Moto2™

· All riders started out on slick tyres, with the soft SC1 front and SC0 rear compounds, except for Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia/Kalex) who preferred to use a medium SC2 on the front wheel.

· Aron Canet (Fantic Racing/Kalex) won the race as the lead rider when the red flag was waved for rain on lap 21 and penultimate. Ai Ogura (MT Helmets-MSI/Boscoscuro) only needed second place to become World Champion. The Japanese also set a new race record lap of 1’35.597 on his twelfth lap, improving by almost two tenths the previous one set by Fermín Aldeguer in 2023.

· In addition to the new World Champion Ai Ogura, during the race, other 3 riders fell below the previous lap record, including the local star, the Thai Somkiat Chantra.

Moto3™

· The race was declared wet and the distance reduced to 12 laps. Although the track was still wet in several stretches, all the riders started out on slick tyres, with the only exception being Eddie O’Shea (FleetSafe Honda – MLav Racing/Honda), who relied on DIABLO Rain wet tyres.

· Starting fifth on the grid, David Alonso (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team/CFMOTO) won the race using medium SC2 compound tyres on both axles. In addition to the 2024 World Champion, only his teammate Joel Esteban and KTM riders Iván Ortolá, Ryusei Yamanaka and David Muñoz chose the same tyre combination.
 
· Despite the track not being completely dry, Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse/Honda), second at the finish line, set a new race record lap of 1’41.231 on his tenth lap, improving by a good second the record set by Deniz Öncü in 2023 (1’42.346). In total, 19 riders raced below the previous race record lap. Lunetta used soft SC1 compound tyres on both axles.
 
· Although the race was declared wet and the distance reduced to 12 laps, the pace was very high with an average improvement per lap in the order of a second compared to last year (1’42.445 vs 1’43.437).
 
Asia Talent Cup
 
· The race, run in the wet over a distance of 12 laps with Pirelli DIABLO Rain tyres, was won by Ryota Ogiwara. However, Zen Mitani – fourth place at the finish line – was crowned Champion of the Asia Talent Cup 2024 with two races still to be held next weekend in Malaysia. The Japanese rider won the cup with 5 victories.