Following a 10 year-long wait for premier motorsport to return here at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC), the inaugural MotoGP race in India ended up being a dramatic and thrilling one. The Indian Grand Prix saw a riveting final lap scrap, major incidents, and a huge swing in the fight for the championship; despite all of which, there was also a commanding win for the weekend’s best performer.
VR46 Ducati rider Marco Bezzecchi took the chequered flag after a dominant ride and weekend, taking pole on Saturday and later in the day recovering 13 places to finish fifth in the sprint after a first turn crash. On Sunday, once again, Bezzecchi would have to recover after both Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia overtook him in the first lap, but once he got the lead, he would go on an unassailable ride in the clean air, using his hard braking abilities in the long straights and tight corners to eventually end the race out on his own, winning with a margin of 8.6 seconds.
Bagnaia dramatically crashed out of the race in the 13th lap, paving the way for Martin to finish second. He was not able to do so without finding formidable fight to keep the third-placed 2021 champion Fabio Quartararo at bay with high drama at the end. Despite looking like he was cruising to second, Martin, struggling physically in the heat, went wide at turn 4 of the final lap, letting Quartararo take the place shortly before performing a gutsy overtake and finding the resilience to hold him off for the rest of the lap to retake the spot.
Martin’s second place finish, and sprint win, has reduced the gap with championship leader and reigning champion Bagnaia to just 13 points. The significance of the moment was not lost on the Spaniard, who was visibly incredibly emotional as he fell to the floor after arriving in the pit lane after the race, with his teammates pouring water all over him.
While many of the stands did look empty, it was a far better turnout on Sunday than the empty seats that had greeted the grid during the rest of the weekend. Bezzecchi would reveal that he was able to feed off the noise around the circuit to produce the pace this weekend.
“I really liked this country since the first time I arrived,” he told a press conference. “I enjoyed celebrating with the fans very much here. In the Asian countries, like here, the fans are always very loud, and I enjoy that so much.”
It was a race in itself to make sure the Grand Prix took place without major problems, with visa issues delaying the arrival of some riders and staff, rain and humidity disrupting the schedule, and safety concerns about the circuit initially built for Formula One racing between 2011 and 2013.
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While hard braking zones, proximity of the walls to some of the high-speed corners, and a tricky turn 1 would challenge the riders, Bezzecchi revealed how the circuit aided him this weekend.
“I’ve liked this track since the first practice, it’s fun even if it is tough,” he said. “I enjoyed the fast parts of this track too, but where I have really worked hard on is the hard braking in every corner. This weekend, that’s where I was a bit stronger.”
Title fight on
With Bezzecchi separating himself from the rest of the grid within a few laps, the high drama at the race was surrounding the second place, with three different riders looking likely to claim it at different points. Pramac rider Martin had bridged the gap with the factory Ducati of Bagnaia to 36 points before this weekend, with the Italian still reeling from his horror crash earlier this month in Misano.
Never giving up! 💪
Fantastic ride from @FabioQ20 who bags his second podium of the year 👊#IndianGP 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/2rIEo15uQM
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 24, 2023
Martin had been the next-best rider of the weekend, having won the sprint in dominant fashion after Bezzecchi’s crash. But Bagnaia brought the pace on Sunday. The duo would go on to trade places with thrilling overtakes – Martin making a risky move on the inside of Bagnaia on the back straight at Turn 4 in the fourth lap, and the latter returning the favour by sliding through on the parabola at Turn 9 a few laps later.
But just as Bagnaia looked comfortable as he opened up a gap, while pushing the limit with an aggressive strategy – opting for the hard compound front tyre – he would slide into the track and crash into the gravel at Turn 5, ending his race.
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“I’m not happy because I am fighting for a championship and these are mistakes that I cannot make,” a frustrated Bagnaia told the media. “When you are too much on the limit, it’s possible these mistakes can happen. Totally my mistake, I have apologised to my team. Staying in third is better than (crashing).”
The 13-point gap between the two could now be swung as recently as the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi next week. Bezzecchi has also inserted himself into the conversation, but remains 44 points away.
Results:
1. Marco Bezzecchi — VR46 Ducati — 36:59.1570
2. Jorge Martin — Pramac — +8.649
3. Fabio Quartararo — Yamaha — +8.855
4. Brad Binder — KTM — +12.643
5. Joan Mir — Honda — +13.214
