MotoGP: Somkiat Chantra, Johann Zarco's unexpected Thai teammate

For "his" Thailand Grand Prix, the first of the 22 GPs of the season, Somkiat Chantra (Honda-LCR), the native of the country, "cannot imagine" the pressure he will have in front of a crowd won over to his cause on Sunday, when the lights go out. "It's like a dream come true," assures the driver, recognizable by his peroxide blond hair, who has always displayed a big smile during his appearances in front of the media in recent weeks.

The Pattaya champion, nicknamed "Kong" in his home country, is about to write a page in Thailand's sporting history, by becoming the first to ride in the premier class of motorcycle speed. It is rare for a representative from Southeast Asia to reach this level: before him, only Malaysian Hafizh Syahrin achieved this feat, in 2018 and 2019. An anomaly, given that this region of the world, a driving force of the manufacturing industry with hundreds of millions of inhabitants, represents "one of the main markets" for the promoter of MotoGP, Dorna Sports, according to its director Carmelo Ezpeleta.

In Thailand, the passion for two-wheelers is a daily occurrence: millions of locals praise its economic aspect compared to cars and its mobility, which allows them to get around sometimes chaotic traffic conditions. The kingdom is also home to many factories of manufacturers such as Honda, Yamaha, or Ducati, all present on the grid, which produce hundreds of thousands of units each year for export.

To access the elite of motorcycle speed, Chantra followed the path marked out by Honda, whose training program reserved for young Asian talents he joined at the age of nine. Nurtured by the Japanese manufacturer, which is used to promoting its in-house champions, he was among the logical candidates to replace the Japanese Takaaki Nakagami, pushed towards the exit this winter after seven years without a podium. But the Thai remains an enigma for the rest of the paddock: he has only two victories in six years of Moto2, and was still fighting in the soft underbelly of the MotoGP antechamber last season, which ended in 12th place, far behind the Japanese world champion Ai Ogura (Aprilia-Trackhouse) and the Spaniard Fermin Aldeguer (Ducati-Gresini), the two other rookies of 2025.

I discovered him, he is really interesting, he is a guy who you can feel is very eager.

Johann Zarco

Rookies at 26 are rare in MotoGP, where teams prefer to launch younger riders with solid performances in the lower categories. Johann Zarco got off to a good start in 2017 at the age of 26, but the Frenchman had won back-to-back Moto2 world championships before making the big jump. “I like this kind of tandem. The experienced rider can bring confidence and deliver results and the rookie is there to prepare for the future. It’s a good balance,” explains Lucio Cecchinello, boss of Honda-LCR.

"I'm discovering him, he's really interesting, he's a guy you can feel is really keen," Johann Zarco, who at 34 is the oldest rider on the grid this season, told AFP. "It makes me really happy when I can give some advice and I see that he can apply it so quickly," he continued. The pre-season tests revealed the progress Chantra needs to make to adapt to MotoGP, where the characteristics of the machines (engine, tyres, brakes, etc.) differ greatly from Moto2. He was among the last in the Malaysian and Thai tests, but after a final ride in Buriram in mid-February, he says he feels "99%" comfortable on his Honda.