BURIRAM: Ducati`s Enea Bastianini won the Thai MotoGP sprint race on Saturday with the two world title rivals Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia second and third respectively.

Ducati Pramac`s Martin extended his championship lead over Bagnaia by two points to 22, ahead of the grand prix at Buriram on Sunday.

`I was not used to this heat, it was really tough,` said Spain`s Martin, who is attempting to win the world title for the first time.

`But I was riding well, I was competitive. Tomorrow will be a really difficult race, so I need to be focused.

Two-time defending world champion Bagnaia started on pole but a dramatic opening saw the lead change hands and in the shake-up team-mate Bastianini emerged out in front.

In sweltering conditions, Martin started in third and at one point dropped to sixth, but recovered to nip in front of Italy`s Bagnaia on lap seven.

The Italian Bastianini was now comfortable out front and extended his lead over Martin, with Bagnaia on his rival`s heels in third but not close enough to make a move.

Fourth was six-time world champion Marc Marquez, who won in Australia lasttime out, followed by his brother Alex.

Another 25 points are up for grabs in Sunday`s grand prix and Bagnaia has little room for error with just two more race weekends after this one.

`We luckily lost just two points and tomorrow we must try to close this gap because it`s true that Jorge can finish in all the [remaining] races second and still be champion,` said Bagnaia. `We have to focus on ourselves and be more perfect.

The penultimate race weekend of the season is in Malaysia next weekend, ahead of the season finale in Valencia in mid-November.-AFP