Thailand MotoGP race day
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Stopwatch
1m30.904s from Marquez. That's that question answered - he is going for it.
Of course, as we come onto lap 11, it is still unknown how much tyre Quartararo is using in the opening half of this race.
Stopwatch
1m30.966s from Quartararo. A new lap record.
The conditions here are perfect for Quartararo to secure his first win. Marquez has a decent gap to Vinales behind, and Dovizioso won't be beating him this weekend.
Vinales isn't really doing much to close the 2.2s gap to Marquez ahead in third as we come into lap 10. Quartararo's lead has extended to over half a second now.
We did see this from Vinales at Misano. He was quick in the first couple of laps before dropping off as he struggled with front feeling. He did find pace late on, so there is hope for him to get back into this.
Dovizioso is about to come under big threat from Morbidelli, Rossi and the Suzukis. Top two now 1.9s clear of Vinales as we head onto lap eight.
The gap between the pair was about four tenths at the start of lap seven.
Stopwatch
1m31.033s from Quartararo on that previous tour.
This does definitely have a similar feeling to Misano, where Quartararo led for most of it ahead of Marquez. But the SRT rider will know Marquez will surely not risk too much trying to follow him this time.
Stopwatch
1m31.094s from Marquez on lap five. He is responding to Quartararo's questions in these early stages.
Quartararo was about seven tenths quicker than Dovizioso in fourth. This just isn't working out for the Ducati rider right now.
Onto lap five now and Quartararo leads Marquez, Vinales, Dovizioso, Morbidelli, Rossi, Mir, Rins, Petrucci, Aleix Espargaro, Nakagami, Bagnaia, Pol Espargaro, Oliveira, Iannone.
Crash
Kallio has crashed at Turn 8.
Stopwatch
1m31.136s from Quartararo on lap four. The pace is hot from the SRT rider.
Mir's strong run continues. He is in front of Rossi at the moment in sixth. Rins, Petrucci, Aleix Espargaro complete the top 10.
Dovizioso lapping a couple of seconds slower than the top two. Quartararo was slightly quicker than Marquez last time around.
Dovizioso isn't making much impression on this top three as we come onto lap four. He's got a bit of work to do here.
Quartararo still leads on lap three from Marquez, with a small gap forming to Vinales of around 0.5s.
Stopwatch
1m31.475s from Quartararo on lap two.
But he's run wide and lets Quartararo back through. Marquez holds second just from Vinales.
Marquez winds up the Honda and eases past Quartararo into Turn 3.
Good start by the Suzukis. Mir up to sixth ahead of Rins. Onto the second lap and Quartararo still leads Marquez.
Vinales up the inside of Marquez at Turn 3 but runs wide. Marquez holds second. Dovizioso crucially up to fourth. Miller comes back out on track.
Lights green
We are racing, Quartararo leads at Turn 1 from Marquez, Vinales, Morbidelli and the Ducatis.
Crash
Miller is wheeling his bike off of sixth from the grid.
With all on the soft rear, that hints towards this being a very slow-burn race as everyone tries to keep their rubber intact.
Information
All but Lorenzo have gone for the soft rear tyre, hard front. Lorenzo has gone for a medium front.
Green flag
Warm-up laps is underway.
Just five minutes till lights out.
How Marquez navigates this race will be interesting. We know he struggles to contain the killer instinct within when on track, but the Yamaha's of Vinales and Quartararo do not care one bit about what's going on in the championship, and the Honda rider won't want to get involved in a battle with two riders desperate for victories.
France has not had a race winner in the premier class since Regis Laconi in 1999. Poleman Quartararo stands a very good chance of ending that drought today.
Information
So, here is the grid for this 26-lap race:
Row 1 - Quartararo - Vinales - Marquez
Row 2 - Morbidelli - Petrucci - Miller
Row 3 - Dovizioso - Mir - Rossi
Row 4 - Rins - Pol Espargaro - Aleix Espargaro
Row 5 - Crutchlow - Nakagami - Bagnaia
Row 6 - Iannone - Oliveira - Rabat
Row 7 - Lorenzo - Abraham - Kallio
Row 8 - Syahrin
Row 1 - Quartararo - Vinales - Marquez
Row 2 - Morbidelli - Petrucci - Miller
Row 3 - Dovizioso - Mir - Rossi
Row 4 - Rins - Pol Espargaro - Aleix Espargaro
Row 5 - Crutchlow - Nakagami - Bagnaia
Row 6 - Iannone - Oliveira - Rabat
Row 7 - Lorenzo - Abraham - Kallio
Row 8 - Syahrin
Autosport
It's not been a smooth weekend for Marquez. He's crashed twice so far, including a massive on in FP1. On Saturday, Alpinestars released the data from that incident, which makes for some interesting reading 
While it looks fine for now, there is still a threat of rain for the race.
Twitter
Dovizioso's day got off to a troubled start, as he suffered a technical issue in warm-up. He'll start from seventh, and will have to dig deep is he has any hope of beating Marquez.
The only man who can deny Marquez's coronation today is Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso. He trails Marquez by 98 points, and needs to stop the Honda rider from outscoring him by two points.
Honda rider Marquez was fastest in warm-up earlier this morning, with Yamaha duo Fabio Quartararo and Maverick Vinales - as they have been all weekend - his nearest rivals.
We are just 15 minutes away from lights out, and Marc Marquez is just 15 minutes away from his first match point. Will he leave Thailand as the 2019 MotoGP world champion?
By: Matt Beer
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