The eld꧂er Marquez thus leaves the opening round having won both the Buriram Sprint and Grand Prix, from pole position, for a perfect 37 points.

After dominating the Sprint from start to finish, Sunday’s 26-lap race, in sweltering 37-degree heat, looked set to be a repeat with Marc Marquez again pulling away ꩲfrom pole…

But just six laps later, Marquez suddenly pulled over on the exit of the hairpin💮, calmly looking over his shoulder as brothe♋r Alex rode past.

A low tyre pressure warning was one theory, with the #93 needing to follow another rider to rais♛e his tyre pressure for the required minimum number of laps.

Marc was straight into Alex’s slipstream but in no hurry to ꧃pass, reinforcin💙g the tyre pressure theory.

The red rider then follo🃏wed the Gresini machine - with team-♚mate Francesco Bagnaia, VR46’s Franco Morbidelli and rookie star Ai Ogura in pursuit - for lap after lap.

The eight-t𓆉ime world champi🦩on finally launched his race winning pass with just four laps to go, under braking for the final corner and won by 1.7s.

Alex Marquez had again lost second to Bagnaia at the start but returned to the runner-up spot later on the opening lap before🥂 being gifted the lead. Bagnaia remained in third for the rest of the grand prix.

Morbidelli swiftly o𓄧vercame his gri♉d penalty, passing Ogura for fourth place within a handful of laps.

Nonetheless, Ogura again kept pace with his experienced rivals to finish fifth, as the only rider in the top seveಞn not on the soft fron🐟t and medium rear tyres (choosing the soft rear).

There was a big gap to sixth place Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia), followed by the top Honda of Johann Zarco ܫ(LCR).

HRC’s Joan Mir crashed out of seventh place at mid-distance, with Pedro Aco🌳sta another to hit the deck.

Fabio Quartararo and Maverick Vinales also plummeted to the back o🉐f🃏 the field.

Like Morbidelli (12th on grid), home rookie Somkiat Chantra (22nd) also had a three-place grid penalty to serve in Sunday's race, for obstructing other riders at the end of Friday practiceꦚ.

Reigning world champion Jorge Martin was absent this weekend after suffering further hand injuries in training last week. Martin was replaced by Apriliꦚa test rider Lorenzo Savadori.

Fabio di Giannantonio - also injured on day one of the S🎉epang test - was back for VR46 bꦏut retired from the Saturday Sprint due to extreme heat from his Ducati.

Round two ♉of the season takes place at Termas de Rio Hondo, Argentina, in two weeks’ time.