Marquez wins Thailand MotoGP to extend championship lead

Published Oct. 7, 2018 4:51 a.m. ET

BURIRAM, Thailand (AP) — Marc Marquez of Honda narrowly beat archrival Andrea Dovizioso of Ducati to win the inaugural MotoGP Thailand at the Chang International Circuit for his seventh win of the season on Sunday.

After a tight duel between the championship leaders, Marquez took the lead on the final corner to seal victory, 0.115 seconds ahead of Dovizioso, to extend his championship lead to 77 points.

"In the past I always lost to Ducati's riders in the last lap, but this time I would give my 100 percent," Marquez said. "It was amazing to win here after a difficult weekend.

"We move one more step to the final dream (of winning the championship)."

It was the successive second race where Dovizioso led late in the race only to lose in the final stages to Marquez.

"It's not nice to lose the last corner," Dovizioso said. "This track isn't for us. We came here struggling a little bit like we did in February (winter test). We battled for the victory and we did incredible work. We will continue to improve."