MotoGP Grand Prix of Thailand 2019: Race Schedule, Live Stream and Top Riders

Marc Marquez will be crowned MotoGP world champion for a sixth time in his career if he wins the 2019 Thailand Grand Prix on Sunday.

The 26-year-old holds a 98-point cushion at the top of the riders' standings with five races remaining this season, meaning one more victory would be enough to secure a fourth straight championship.

However, Marquez will also have to overcome any possible effects of a short hospital stay on Friday following a crash in first practice, per Lewis Duncan of Autosport.

This is only the second year in which the Thailand Grand Prix has been included on the MotoGP calendar, and the race will again take place at the Buriram International Circuit.

Andrea Dovizioso will make a bid for first place in the hope of keeping the title race competitive, though a minor miracle may be required to stop Marquez at this point. 

Race Schedule

Friday, October 4

• Free Practice 1: 3:55 a.m. to 4:40 a.m. BST/10:55 p.m. to 11:40 p.m. ET (Thurs., Oct. 3)
• Free Practice 2: 8:10 a.m. to 8:55 a.m. BST/3:10 a.m. to 3:55 a.m. ET

Saturday, October 5

• Free Practice 3: 3:55 a.m. to 4:40 a.m. BST/10:55 p.m. to 11:40 p.m. ET (Fri., Oct. 4)
• Free Practice 4: 7:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. BST/2:30 a.m. to 3 a.m. ET
• Qualifying 1: 8:10 a.m. to 8:25 a.m. BST/3:10 a.m. to 3:25 a.m. ET
• Qualifying 2: 8:35 a.m. to 8:50 a.m. BST/3:35 a.m. to 3:50 a.m. BST
  

Sunday, October 6

• Warm-up: 3:40 a.m. to 4 a.m. BST/10:40 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET (Sat., Oct. 5)
• Race: 8 a.m. BST/3 a.m. ET

Live-stream links: BT Sport App (UK), beIN Sports Connect (USA)

Desperate Field Chasing Runaway Leader Marquez 

All signs seem to point to a Marquez triumph in Buriram, either in the race itself or by gaining the necessary two points on Ducati star Dovizioso to officially seal his sixth world crown.

Box Repsol provided a breakdown of the standings heading into the 2019 Thailand Grand Prix:

Only three other riders in the field have managed successive top-two finishes this season—Dovizioso, Alex Rins and Maverick Vinales—but no-one else has recorded three or more.

It speaks volumes for the talent Marquez possesses considering he has finished first or second in his last 11 races; he hasn't placed third or lower in a race he's finished since the Czech Grand Prix in August 2018.

His only failure to finish in the top two this year was his retirement at the Grand Prix of the Americas in April. Aside from that, he has eight wins, five runner-up finishes and a lot of daylight between him and his nearest competition.

Dovizioso would be further outside the title race had he not finished second at the 2019 Aragon Grand Prix last time out, when Marquez clinched a second straight victory:

The Italian finished second at the inaugural Thailand Grand Prix last year, but his goal remains the same: finish in front of Marquez.

Rins, Danilo Petrucci and Vinales all follow in the riders' standings, but they are chasing a rare talent who continues to make supreme feats of skill appear routine, via BT Sport:

Valentino Rossi is in sixth approaching the end of this MotoGP season and hasn't registered a podium finish in five months, with Vinales taking the spotlight as Yamaha's main man.

The 40-year-old was the most recent rider to win four titles in a row when he claimed the championship between 2001 and 2005, and Marquez is out to follow in his footsteps early on Sunday.