Over 100,000 fans were treated with neck-and-neck battle between the two current leaders on the Championship standing but in the end it was the talented Spaniard who overtook the lead in the final corner to seal off the victory in 39.55.722 minutes, 0.115 faster than the Ducati’s rival.

Marquez claimed his seventh win of the season and his 42^nd in the premier class.

Márquez became the first ever rider since the qualifying format was introduced in 2013 to qualify on pole position after passing through Q1.

He became the third rider to win a race after passing through Q1 along with Jack Miller (Assen – 2016) and Cal Crutchlow (Phillip Island – 2016).

“It was difficult. In the past I always lost to Ducati’s riders in the last lap. But this time I would give my 100 per cent. It was amazing to win here after a difficult weekend. We move on more step to the final dream (of winning the Championship),” said Marquez

The 31-year-old clinched a unanimous points decision victory over Mexican challenger Iran Diaz at Impact Arena on Saturday night, his third successful title defence and his first on home soil. After the bout he revealed he would marry Nanchaya in Chumporn on November 11. He also said he would be paying the bride a dowry of Bt2 million and 20 baht weight of gold

He became the third rider to reach the milestone of 50 poles, after Mick Doohan (58) and Valentino Rossi (55).

Marc Márquez became the first ever rider since the qualifying format was introduced in 2013 to qualify on pole position after passing through Q1. On Sunday, he will be aiming to become the third rider to win a race after passing through Q1 along with Jack Miller (Assen – 2016) and Cal Crutchlow (Phillip Island – 2016).

Valentino Rossi has qualified in second, which is his best qualifying result since Brno and his fourth front row start of the season. Rossi will be aiming to stand on the podium for the first time since Germany. The last time Yamaha had five successive races in the premier class without a podium finish was in 2003.

Andrea Dovizioso has qualified third and is the highest-placed Ducati rider, which is his second successive front row start.

Heading the second row on the grid is Maverick Viñales, which is his best qualifying result since he was third at Misano.

Top Independent Team rider Cal Crutchlow starts from fifth, which is the sixth successive time he has qualified on the second row of the grid.

Andrea Iannone has qualified in sixth, and it’s the sixth time this year he has started the race from the front two rows.

Dani Pedrosa starts from seventh and qualified in the top eight for only the second time since his front row start at Jerez. Pedrosa led the Official Test at Buriram in winter.

Johann Zarco is eighth and the second fastest Independent Team rider. This is Zarco’s best qualifying result since he was third at Silverstone and his best in dry conditions since he was sixth in Austria.

Danilo Petrucci, who is leading the Independent Team classification, completes the third row of the grid and is the second Ducati rider. It’s his worst qualifying performance since he was 11^th in Assen.

Danilo Petrucci’s teammate Jack Miller starts from tenth for the second successive time.

Álex Rins is 11^th on the grid, which is the ninth time this year he has qualified on the third row of the grid.

After joining Q2 directly for the fourth time in 2018, Alvaro Bautista, who is scheduled to start his 270^th Grand Prix race, has qualified in 12^th on the grid.

Bradley Smith, who is scheduled to start his 100^th Grand Prix race in the premier class, is the highest-placed KTM rider in 15^th on the grid. Smith is set to become the fifth British rider to reach the milestone of 100 premier class starts along with Cal Crutchlow, Jeremy McWilliams, Ron Haslam and Niall Mackenzie.

Moto2™

Lorenzo Baldassarri has qualified on pole position for the second time this year and on what is his 99^th Grand Prix start, becoming the fifth Italian rider to qualify on pole position more than once in the Moto2™ class.

Álex Márquez starts from second on the grid, which is his best qualifying result since he was also second in Brno earlier this year. This is Márquez’ eighth front row start of 2018. He will be aiming to win his first race since Japan last year and to be the first Spanish winner this season.

Luca Marini has qualified on the front row for the first time since he was on pole position at the Czech GP. Marini will be aiming to win his first race on what is the 50^thGrand Prix race of his career.

Heading the second row of the grid, Mattia Pasini scored his best qualifying result since he was third in San Marino, and it’s also his seventh top four of the season.

Miguel Oliveira starts from fifth, which is his best qualifying performance since he was the second fastest qualifier in Austria. This is the fourth time Oliveira has qualified on the first two rows this season.

Leader of the Championship Francesco Bagnaia has qualified in sixth, which is the 14^th time he has started from the first two rows on the grid this year; his worst qualifying result being 15^th in Argentina.

Augusto Fernández starts from ninth on the grid, which is the best qualifying result of his Grand Prix career.

Moto3™

Marco Bezzecchi has qualified on pole position for the second time this year, along with Austria, equalling Nicolò Bulega in fourth place on the list of Italian riders with most pole positions in the Moto3™ class. In addition, this is his third front row on what is the 36^th start of his Grand Prix career.

This is the third pole position for KTM this season, equalling the number of pole positions they accumulated last year.

Jaume Masia has qualified in second on the grid for the second successive time, equalling his best qualifying result on his 18^th start.

Kazuki Masaki completes the front row of the grid, which is the best qualifying result of his rookie season so far and the best from a Japanese rider since Tatsuki Suzuki was also third on the grid in Barcelona earlier this year.

With Marco Bezzecchi, Jaume Masia and Kazuki Masaki, this is the first all-KTM front row since the Czech GP.

Tony Arbolino was fourth fastest for the second successive time after the Aragón GP. Arbolino is also the highest placed Honda rider on the grid.

Niccoló Antonelli starts from fifth on the grid, which is his best qualifying result since he was fourth in Spain earlier this year. This is the third time this year he will start from the first two rows.

Darryn Binder completes the second row on the grid, which is his best qualifying result on what is the 61^st Grand Prix start of his career.

Championship leader Jorge Martín, who is suffering with the fitness of his left hand, has qualified 13th, which is his only the second time this year he has failed to start from the front row along with Argentina.

The 31-year-old former rubbish collector from Sisaket province dominated the 12-round bout, the highlight of a spectacular One:Kingdom of Heroes card, made up of MMA (mixed martial arts) and kickboxing bouts.

Srisaket’s title defence was the first boxing match-up ever promoted by the One Championship, the largest global sports media group in Asian history – and it lived up to its billing.

The fight was non-stop action from the start of the first round to the dying seconds of the 12th, when Diaz realised he needed a KO and threw everything he had at Srisaket.

In the end, however, the Thai was such a convincing winner that one of the three judges gave him all 12 rounds, while the other two awarded just one to his opponent.

That was the 8th, when Diaz landed a series of blows that appeared to rock the champion. His hope was short-lived, however, as Srisaket regained his composure and never surrendered it again.

Diaz, a rising star in the division, did himself proud and seemed to thoroughly enjoy his visit, even though he failed to deliver on his promise to take the belt home.

He arrived with a swagger, high-fiving fans on his way to the ring, played his full part in a competitive and entertaining fight and even after the judges’ scorecards had confirmed his defeat, he still climbed the ropes to strike a proud pose, took the applause of the fans and ran around draped in the Mexican flag as surely as if he’d won.

And well might he be proud of his night’s work. Not for nothing does he come from a country famed down the years for the resilience of its fighters.

A lesser man would have hit the canvas long before the end, such was Srisaket’s dominance, but Diaz shrugged off the heavy punishment and there remained the niggling feeling that he was capable of producing a shock at any moment.

So it was in the 8th as he silenced the frenzied crowd by connecting flush with several punches.

Srisaket actually fell to the canvas at one point but the referee quickly indicated to the judges that they should not score it as a knockdown.

Nonetheless Srisaket ended that round raising his arms to the crowd, as if to ask for their support. It seemed, briefly, as if he might be in some trouble.

For all his bravery, however, Diaz could not sustain the momentum and Srisaket ran out a convincing winner.

It was his third successful of the crown he took from Nicaraguan Roman Gonzalez in March 2017 – but his first in Thailand.

It wasn’t quite a perfect night – Srisaket had vowed to give his home fans a KO to celebrate and he acknowledged that it was testament to the quality of his opponent that he failed to deliver that.

“I’m so happy to have won here. I’m sorry not to have given you the knockout,” he said. “But he was a great boxer.”

The fans had another triumph to celebrate -¬ in the main event of the undercard, 20-year-old Muay Thai ace Stamp Fairtex turned in a debut to remember as she dethroned “Killer Bee” Kai Ting Chuang of China, also by a unanimous decision, to become the new ONE Kickboxing Atomweight World Champion.

Beaming with confidence, Stamp used her range and movement to out-strike her counterpart throughout the fast-paced five-round contest.

A flurry of strikes in the fifth round sealed the points victory for Stamp, who takes home the prestigious title belt on her ONE Super Series debut.

Official results for ONE: KINGDOM OF HEROES

WBC Super Flyweight World Championship Bout bout: Srisaket Sor Rungvisai defeats Iran Diaz by Unanimous Decision (119-109, 120-108, 119-109) after 12 rounds

ONE Kickboxing Atomweight World Championship bout: Stamp Fairtex defeats Kai Ting Chuang by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 5 rounds

Lightweight bout: Shinya Aoki defeats Ev Ting by Submission (Arm Triangle) at 0:57 minutes of round 1

ONE Super Series Kickboxing Lightweight bout: Anthony Njokuani defeats Andy Souwer by Split Decision (SD) after 3 rounds

Catch Weight bout (67.4kgs): Muin Gafurov defeats Leandro Issa by Knockout (KO) at 2:24 minutes of round 1

ONE Super Series Kickboxing Heavyweight bout: Alain Ngalani vs. Andre Meunier ends in a No Contest (NC)

ONE Super Series Muay Thai Bantamweight bout: Alaverdi Ramazanov defeats Petchmorrakot Wor. Sangprapai by Unanimous Decision (UD)

Strawweight bout: Hayato Suzuki defeats Robin Catalan by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:42 minutes of round 2

ONE Super Series Kickboxing Flyweight bout: Singtongnoi Por Telakun defeats Masahide Kudo by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds

Women’s Atomweight bout: Rika Ishige defeats Bozhena Antoniyar by Technical Knockout (TKO) at 2:48 minutes of round 1

ONE Super Series Muay Thai Flyweight bout: Petchdam Kaiyanghadao defeats Kenny Tse by Knockout (KO) at 1:26 minutes of round 1

Bantamweight bout: Fu Chang Xin defeats Rin Saroth by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:04 minutes of round 2

Flyweight bout: Ramon Gonzales defeats Dodi Mardian by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:33 minutes of round 1

The reigning world title-holder burst out front with lmin 30.088secs, 0.011 ahead of Rossi’s 1:30.099 as Andrea Dovizioso rounded out the top three.

Marquez holds a comfortable 72-point lead over Dovizioso heading into Sunday’s race, where he is looking to close in on his fifth world title.

“I was disappointed to be in group one because during all weekend I felt happy with the bike. But we had a problem in FP3 that I had to go out to push for the time. When I went into to change the bike there was no time. The tyres were hard for many laps . I crashed. I wasn’t able to be in group 2. But this can happen when you work for the race. It can be risky but it paid off today as I won in group one and two,” said Marquez.

Valentino Rossi of Italy 

But Jorge Lorenzo, who arrived carrying a foot injury and then damaged his wrist in a heavy crash during practice, will miss the race after he pulled out before qualifying.

Thailand’s first MotoGP is being held in the rural town of Buriram, which is several hours’ drive from Bangkok and has a population of only about 30,000.

Lewis, who leads Vettel by 50 points with five races left this season, led a Mercedes front-row lock-out and will start as the hot favourite to tighten his stranglehold on the Formula One championship in Sunday’s race at Suzuka.

The Briton’s record-extending 80th career pole never looked in doubt after his rampant form in completing a clean sweep of free practice earlier in the day.

“I can’t believe I have 80 poles,” said Hamilton, who has won five of the last six races.

“Never in a million years did I think I’d get 80. When it comes to being under pressure and making the right decisions, that’s why we are the best team in the world.”

Ferrari’s decision to begin Q3 on intermediate tyres instead of supersofts backfired spectacularly as the rain they expected held off just long enough for Hamilton to set a fastest lap of one minute, 27.760 seconds — three-tenths quicker than team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

Vettel skidded off twice in his desperation to set a time and his starting position will be his lowest of a season which began so brightly but looks like ending in bitter disappointment.

“This is not the position we deserve to be in,” insisted the German, who realistically needs victory to keep alive his fading hopes of pipping Hamilton to a fifth world title.

“I think we have better pace than ninth so I’m not too worried.”

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen qualified third, alongside Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen on the second row.

Romain Grosjean steered his Haas to fifth ahead of Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly, who secured sixth and seventh on the grid for Toro Rosso at the home of their engine suppliers Honda.

Meanwhile, there were more qualifying woes for Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, who climbed out of his car and yelled an expletive into his helmet after suffering a mechanical breakdown.

“I just can’t catch a break,” said the Australian. “I’ll try to do what I can but it’s pretty painful at the moment.”

The Force Indias of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez qualified above and below Vettel to complete the top 10.

Hamilton controversially took his eighth chequered flag of the season at Sochi last weekend — his fifth win in the last six races — after Mercedes ordered Bottas to give up the lead.

But he has dominated in Suzuka and a fifth victory in Japan would put him on course to clinch the title with races to spare.

United’s stuttering start to the season has seen the experienced Portuguese coach’s position at Old Trafford repeatedly called into question.

But the spotlight on Mourinho intensified when Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper reported late Friday he would be sacked regardless of the result of United’s match at home to Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday.

United are struggling in 10th place and last week’s 3-1 loss to West Ham meant they had suffered their worst start to a league campaign in 29 years.

According to the Mirror, Mourinho, 55, has lost the confidence of the board with “senior United sources” telling the paper his nearly two-and-a-half years in charge will end whatever the outcome of the Newcastle game.

Tuesday’s goalless draw against Valencia in the Champions League — a match where United struggled to live up to their fans’ expectation of attacking football — also meant former Chelsea boss Mourinho had gone four home matches without a win for the first time in his managerial career.

“Yes, I accept (it is not good enough),” Mourinho, who has reportedly had several bust-ups with star player Paul Pogba this season, said when asked about United’s losing streak during a pre-match press conference earlier Friday.

The press conference, called for the unusually early time of 8:00 am (0700 GMT), lasted a mere eight minutes and 29 seconds.

But that was time enough for Mourinho to suggest United’s results would pick up.

“We are better than this and because we are better than this, our situation is going to improve. I have no doubts about that,” he said.

Mourinho responded to the criticism coming his way by claiming United overachieved in finishing second last season, 19 points behind champions Manchester City, adding he always expected this campaign to be more difficult.

“I think opponents with much more potential than us finished behind us,” he said.

“That is the reason why it was a phenomenal season.”

United became a byword for managerial stability during Alex Ferguson’s trophy-laden 26-and-a-half years in charge.

But were Mourinho to be dismissed, it would mean United had got through three full-time managers, plus club great Ryan Giggs’s spell as caretaker, in the five years since the legendary Scottish boss retired in 2013 — a period that has coincided with the club failing to win either the Premier League or Europe’s Champions League.

– ‘Absolute disgrace’ –

Former United and England full-back Gary Neville, one of Ferguson’s most dependable players, said such an attrition rate was against the “principles and values” of the club.

Asked if United would be right to sack Mourinho, Sky Sports pundit Neville replied: “No. To be honest I’m furious.

“I’m furious going back three, four years ago when David Moyes was sacked, when it broke a day before to journalists.

“I think of Louis van Gaal being sacked the evening of a cup final and finding out from other people.”

In what appeared to be an attack on Ed Woodward, United’s executive vice-chairman, Neville added: “At the end of the day this is now going on five or six years and I have to say that any manager — Jose Mourinho is one of the best managers in the world — and I think in this moment in time any manager would struggle in that football club, the way in which requirement is handled, the way in which it operates.

“Enough is enough for me. I love that football club, I absolutely love it to death, it’s been my life… I have to say something has to change and it isn’t the manager, it’s above that.

“And I’m furious that we’re stood here thinking that there’s a report that’s broken out… journalists don’t break stories of this nature unless they’re absolutely certain.

“I hope it’s not true, but if it is true I think it’s an absolute disgrace,” he insisted.

The Ducati driver said his left wrist is “hurting a lot” and that he did not want to take more risks.

“Now is time for recovery,” the 31-year-old Spaniard told reporters, adding that he wasn’t certain he could compete in the next race in Japan.

“I’m very worried because Japan is one of my favourite tracks.”

The three-time MotoGP world title holder is fourth in the standings with 130 points but the withdrawal will leave him playing catch up as the season winds down.

The chances of Lorenzo competing in Thailand were slim even as he arrived at the first-ever MotoGP in Thailand’s Buriram, a town of 30,000 in the northeast.

He was limping from a foot injury sustained in Aragon last month. Then the crash during Friday’s practice sent him flying off the bike, which broke into pieces, halting the session.

It was blamed on a mechanical problem.

The rider was declared fit to race afterwards but said he was still in pain and on Saturday he was wearing a wrist brace.

He said he was not happy about missing the inaugural event in the Southeast Asian country.

“Of course this is the first Thailand GP, but I would be as sad as another Grand Prix,” he said.

“I did whatever it takes to arrive here and to try it but now I have no meaning to go (on).”

How close do you like it? After Day 1 at the PTT Thailand Grand Prix it’s less than a tenth that splits the top four and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) who finishes Friday as the fastest man at Buriram. The Italian was only 0.031 faster than FP1’s quickest rider Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), however, and top Independent Team rider Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) was close – with reigning Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) in P4 and only 0.098 in arrears. It was far from lonely at the top.

Despite the tight timesheets, one of the biggest headlines of the day was a huge crash for Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) as the Spaniard fell at Turn 3 in the afternoon. Launched over the highside, he later confirmed it was a technical issue that caused the crash. Lorenzo was taken to the Medical Centre for a check up and then hospital in Buriram but declared fit. It did, however, put a dent in his attempts to move into that all-important top ten – and the Spaniard is already riding through the pain barrier following his Turn 1 crash at Aragon.

Back to the front and the gaps remained minimal. Fifth on the combined timesheets was Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Racing), who finished 0.050 behind Marquez to improve from P9 in FP1, with Andrea Iannone (Team Suzuki Ecstar) a further 0.018 in arrears despite a fast crash at Turn 4 in FP2. Alvaro Bautista (Angel Nieto Team) managed to string a strong second Free Practice session together to end the day seventh fastest, a big improvement from the Spaniard’s P16 result in FP1. He suffered a small crash at Turn 3 but rider ok.

Buriram’s fastest in testing, Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team), ended the opening day in eighth after the three-time World Champion improved from P13 in the morning and finished just 0.295 from Dovi’s P1 time. Just behind the Spaniard was FP1’s second quickest man Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), who sits in a provisional Q2 place in ninth and sported Yamaha’s new fairing. Fellow YZR-M1 rider Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), meanwhile, left it late to grab tenth, ending the day 0.023 off Rossi and 0.331 behind Dovizioso in a tight top ten – much to the chagrin of Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Racing), who was the man to just lose out.

Franco Morbidelli (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) was top rookie in P12 ahead of the man who was the fastest debutant at the test, Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu), with Bradley Smith (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) locking out the fastest fifteen on Friday. After his crash, Lorenzo was P16.

With less than a tenth splitting the top four and a second separating the top 17, there’s everything to play for on Saturday. Tune in for FP3 as the premier class fight it out for that all-important automatic entry to Q2 at 09:55 local time (GMT +7), before qualifying begins at 14:10 local time in Buriram.

Pasini makes it a perfect sweep on Friday

In order to discover and nurture from the Asia region riders to compete at the highest levels of competition, Honda is participating in the FIM^* MotoGP World Championship Moto2 class, and Moto3 class as Honda Team Asia.

Honda has announced its teams to compete in the 2019 FIM Moto2 World Championship (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia), and the Moto3 World Championship (Honda Team Asia.)

IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia welcomes Indonesian rider Dimas Ekky Pratama and Thai rider Somkiat Chantra, and will be competing in the 2019 Moto2 season with these two riders.

Pratama currently races for the Astra Honda Racing Team in the FIM CEV Moto2 European Championship. Chantra races for Asia Talent Team in the FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship. Both riders are the pride of their countries.

For the 2019 Moto3 season, Japanese rider Kaito Toba who has raced for Honda Team Asia since 2017 will be joined by compatriot Ai Ogura. Ogura currently races in the FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship, and has also raced, and scored points, in four FIM Moto3 World Championship rounds as a wildcard entry in 2018.

Katsuhide Moriyama |

Corporate Executive Officer and Director of Brand and Communications Division, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

“Since 2013, Honda Team Asia has been an integral part of Honda’s racing activities throughout the Asia region, and has supported young riders dreaming of racing in the MotoGP premier class. All three of riders joining us for the 2019 season have been outstanding performers in their categories, and will join Kaito Toba in his third year, to give their best to realize their dreams. Last year, IDEMISTU Honda Team Asia’s Takaaki Nakagami moved up to the MotoGP class. I look forward to our four riders following in Nakagami’s footsteps soon.”

Hiroshi Aoyama | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia / Honda Team Asia manager

“First, I would like to thank IDEMITSU and our other sponsors for their continued support in 2019, and the opportunity for me to lead the teams. In the Moto2 class, of all the riders I have seen, Chantra has exceptional talent, ever since his Asia Talent Cup days. Dimas [Pratama] is a hard worker, and has earned his place in Moto2 after three years of CEV experience. Both riders have exceptional potential, which I will do my best to support. In the Moto3 class, I’m looking forward to Toba’s performance worthy of his third year in the competition, and can’t wait to see Ogura fighting throughout the season. A lot of people have high expectations of our riders, so we will work hard as a team to get the best results possible. I believe our four riders will perform well on the world stage in 2019.”

Moto2

Dimas Ekky Pratama | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia

“To be able to compete in one full season in the Grand Prix race in Moto2 class is a valuable opportunity that I am looking forward to. The challenge will be very different from the CEV Moto2 because the engine is different. Even so, armed with my previous experience of performing in the CEV Moto2 class and the wild card GP Moto2, I will try to adapt quickly and give my best performance in GP Moto2 next year. My target in GP Moto2 next year is to perform optimally and be able to score points. I hope next season will be a good season for me and the team. Thanks to Honda for giving me this opportunity, Astra Honda Racing Team for the support and cooperation over the past 4 years at FIM CEV Moto2, my sponsors, and also families who always support and pray for the best.”

Somkiat Chantra | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia

“First I would like to thank Honda, the team and our sponsors to give this big opportunity to me. I’m very pleased to join Moto2 racing next season, and proud to join this team. I’m hoping to get good results in opening round, so I will try my best to train, practice and adapt to the bike as fast as I can.”

Moto3

Kaito Toba | Honda Team Asia

“I have learned a lot through my two seasons in Moto3 racing. I’ll take advantage of those experiences, avoid mistakes, and perform at 100% of my abilities. For my third year in the championship, I’m aiming for the title, of course, but first I will make sure I’m consistently fighting for the podium, gaining results, and fighting for the championship throughout the season. To that end I will be training hard throughout the winter break, concentrate every race, and give everything I have to work hard with the team.”

Ai Ogura | Honda Team Asia

“I would like to thank Honda, our sponsors, and all of our supporters for giving me the opportunity to race in the 2019 Moto3 championship. I have been preparing for years to race on the world stage, through my experiences in the Asia Talent Cup, Red Bull Rookies Cup and CEV. I’m not satisfied with my results to date, but I am confident with my riding, and I’m excited about racing next year. I am grateful that I will be able to race on the world stage, which I have dreamed about since childhood, and I will do my best in every race.”