Sylvain Guintoli noticed something worrying in Marc Marquez’s ‘body language’ at Thailand Grand Prix

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Marc Marquez cruised to victory on his Ducati debut in the Thailand Grand Prix Sprint on Saturday. He controlled the race from the front, with brother Alex Marquez directly behind.

Marquez had struggled to get the Ducati off the line during testing, but clearly resolved the problem with his engineers. While his sibling battled with Francesco Bagnaia, Marquez sailed into the lead.

The eventual winning margin was less than 1.2 seconds, but the Ant of Cervera never looked under serious threat. He collects the first 12 points of the season.

Marquez was the strong favourite for the Thailand Grand Prix after setting the pace in the test. He’s dominated the whole weekend so far, having taken pole position by a tenth and a half.

Bagnaia will be satisfied to be close to the Spaniard after a difficult Friday where he ended up 11th in practice. An impeding incident with Franco Morbidelli hurt him late on.

Marquez competed with the top two (Bagnaia and Jorge Martin) despite riding a year-old GP23 bike last season. On the top spec, he’s eyeing a first title since 2019.

Marc Marquez had ‘another gear’ if necessary in Thailand Grand Prix Sprint

Speaking live on TNT Sports after the Sprint, Sylvain Guintoli expressed disappointment that there wasn’t a closer fight at the front. The top five all settled into their positions early on.

Ducati were dominant once again, though Ai Ogura was the star of the race in fourth, offering Aprilia some hope. Fabio di Giannantonio slowed down with an apparent bike issue, while Fermin Aldeguer was 13th on debut.

Worryingly for his rivals, Guintoli observed that Marquez was keeping some pace in reserve. He could tell from his body language that the 32-year-old wasn’t fully attacking.

The Frenchman did suggest that Bagnaia’s tyre choice may have hurt him in the shorter format. He was the outlier in the top four after opting for the hard front.

“When you look at the body language during the race, it did look like he had another gear that he didn’t quite use,” Guintoli said. “Marc looking strong, we were expecting him [to be] strong but I was expecting a little bit more of a fight.

“It could have come from the front-tyre choice as well. Pecco did not really like the soft front. Well, in the top four, everybody was on the soft front except Pecco.”

Marc Marquez is unleashing one Casey Stoner trait in Francesco Bagnaia battle

Marquez has adopted a more comfortable riding position on the factory Ducati, according to Peter Bom. Perhaps that’s why it looked less physical in Buriram.

With temperatures reaching the high 30’s, Marquez will be relieved if he didn’t have to push flat-out. Mat Oxley wonders if the Thailand Grand Prix will be shortened to protect the riders.

Right now, Marquez is undeniably looking imperious, but it must be remembered that this is the first of 22 races. What’s more, Bagnaia truly came alive on Sundays last season, taking 11 wins – eight more than anyone else.

Still, Michael Laverty has compared Marquez to Casey Stoner in his ‘unearthly’ ability to maximise a package. It can send teammates into a spiral as they wonder where he’s finding the lap time.