MotoGP: Worrying Fabio Quartararo trend is threatening to cost him big in title fight

From a neutral’s point of view, Sunday’s Thai MotoGP could hardly have gone any better.

In horrendous and torrential conditions at the Buriram International Circuit, defending champion Fabio Quartararo, having been caught up in the early lap melee, found himself dropping down the order, eventually finishing a 17th place that earned him a grand total of zero points.

By contrast, Pecco Bagnaia was able to hold off the attentions of the likes of Johann Zarco to claim a third place finish, that means the Ducati is now just two points behind Quartararo at the top of the standings, with only three races remaining.

That of course, means that fans are set for a fascinating and thrilling spectacle to end the season that the majority would surely have been hoping for.

By contrast, it is a scenario that Quartararo would undoubtedly have preferred to avoid, although it is something that looking at the Frenchman’s recent results, has been coming.

After ten races of this 20-race 2022 MotoGP season, Quartararo sat top of the Championship standings, with three races wins and three more podiums, giving him 172 points, a lead of 34 over the then second-place man Aleix Esparagaro.

In the seven races since then, however, the Yamaha rider has, for one reason or another, picked up just one more podium, and 43 points in total. In that same time, Bagnaia has taken 136 points – with four wins and two more podiums – to move to within those aforementioned two points of Quartararo.

Of course, Quartararo will point to certain incidents beyond his control, such as his first lap collision with Marc Marquez in Aragon, or the weather that contributed to his struggles in Thailand, as being things that have hindered him recently, that were simply