Two-time MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia steamrolled the field to secure the MotoGP pole position in Thailand.
The Italian compiled a new lap record of 1.28.700s and will start both the Sprint and Grand Prix at the front for the first time since Misano over a month ago.
The Bologna-based factory Ducati duo of Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini delivered a 1-2, with Pramac’s Jorge Martin rounding off the top three.
Martin posted a lap nearly half a second down on his championship rival, but a chaotic last five minutes to the session saw him crash out at Turn 5.
The Pramac rider aboard his GP24 lost the front and was fortunate not to lose out on more places, but the two championship protagonists will share the front row with Bastianini.
In those chaotic last five minutes of qualifying, Gresini’s Marc Marquez and the other Pramac rider of Franco Morbidelli crashed out on the same qualifying run as the championship leader.
All three riders crashed out of proceedings at different parts of the track and, due to time constraints, couldn’t produce any further runs on their second bikes.
Marco Bezzecchi climbed up to fourth for the VR46 outfit, whereas Marquez dropped down to fifth as a result of his fast-paced Turn 3 crash.
Marquez’s fifth spot was under threat but hung on by under a tenth to Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo, who was up against it in the earlier qualifying session before securing a strong sixth place for the team.
Rookie Pedro Acosta finished in seventh ahead of the second VR46 Ducati rider, Fabio Di Giannantonio, in eighth.
Despite the notable disparity between the Gresini riders in the final practice, the younger brother, Alex Marquez, recorded a solid ninth place, with the Spaniard three-tenths behind his brother.
Aprilia’s apparent lack of speed was a key talking point throughout the weekend as Maverick Vinales ended his session in tenth place, ahead of Pramac’s Morbidelli.
LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco secured an automatic place into the second stage but finished dead last in 12th, but a result the Frenchman will be happy with amid a late crash in the closing seconds.
Brad Binder was the first name to miss out on the second qualifying phase and will start at the front of the fifth row in qualifying.
The South African will start 13th alongside Aleix Espargaro’s second Aprilia rider, who pulled out a significant result after three torrid practice sessions.
Jack Miller will start 15th ahead of Augusto Fernandez, and all KTM riders except rookie Acosta were not be able to secure a top-ten finish.
Alex Rins finished 17th for Yamaha, 11 places off his team-mate Quartararo. LCR Honda’s Taakaki Nakagami and Repsol’s Joan Mir were behind.
The last three places on the grid belonged to Raul Fernandez, Luca Marini and Lorenzo Savadori, with the latter still standing in for the injured Miguel Oliveria.
