He came, he saw, he conquered. From Friday’s first practice session, Marco Bezzecchi was at one with his VR46 Racing Bike.
On Sunday, the Italian rider produced the perfect race, winning the inaugural Indian Grand Prix MotoGP race at a canter at the Buddh International Circuit.
The 24-year-old, who started from pole position, set the track ablaze with his pace, winning it with a healthy margin of nearly nine seconds. Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin and Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo completed the podium.
Biggest loser
The big loser on the day, though, was championship leader Francesco Bagnaia, who crashed from second place on lap 13 of the 21-lap race, gifting 20 points to his rivals Martin and Bezzechhi.
Behind the top-three, six-time champion Marc Marquez, also had an off day as he crashed when running fourth before recovering to finish ninth.
At the start, Bezzecchi lost the lead when Martin and Bagnaia breezed past him, with the latter then nosing ahead of Martin.
However, the VR46 Racing rider fought back immediately, getting Martin before taking the lead from Bagnaia on the start-finish straight at the start of the second lap.
Once in the lead, Bezzecchi flew into the distance as he cruised to his third win of the season and also secured a hat-trick of pole position, race win, and the fastest lap of the race.
The win made up for the disappointment of Saturday’s Sprint race in which he was hit from behind by his teammate Luca Marini and dropped down the pack at the start of the race. Still, he managed a sensational recovery drive to finish fifth, demonstrating his searing pace.
Visibly exhausted
It was a tough race for Martin, who was visibly exhausted in the hot conditions and had to hang on to his dear life to finish second.
After running second in the early part of the race, Martin started struggling, allowing Bagnaia to get back at him with a beautiful pass around the parabola section of the track.
With second place in his pocket, the reigning champion looked set to extend his 33-point lead before crashing out in the very next lap.
A struggling Martin then came under attack from Quartararo and, on the last lap of the race, made a mistake into turn four, allowing the latter to get ahead but got the position a few corners later.
With a Sprint win and a second-place finish this weekend, Martin cut his deficit to Bagnaia from 36 to just 13 points with seven rounds left in the calendar, setting up a thrilling fight for the title.
Ahead of the race, there was trepidation regarding the event, with visa issues for team members and concerns over the circuit’s safety. In the end, the race went without any major hitch.
The on-track action had everything from Bezzecchi’s brilliance to some fine wheel-to-wheel battle till the last lap as 20 of the most elite riders in the world put on an excellent show for the nearly 60,000 people who turned up on Sunday.
With India on the provisional calendar for 2024, there is hope that the country’s third attempt at hosting an international motorsport event after Formula One and Formula E will be successful.
The results:
1. Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Racing) 36:59.157, 2. Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) +8.649, 3. Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) 8.855, 4. Brad Binder (KTM Factory Racing) 12.643, 5. Joan Mir (Repsol Honda) 13.214, 6. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) 14.673, 7. Franco Morbidelli (Yamaha) 16.946, 8. Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing) 17.191, 9. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) 19.118, 10. Raul Fernandez (RNF Team) 26.504, 11. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) 28.521, 12. Miguel Oliveira (RNF Team) 29.088, 13. Pol Espargaro (GasGas Factory Racing) 29.728, 14. Jack Miller (KTM Factory Racing) 31.324, 15. Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda) 35.782, 16. Michelle Pirro (Ducati) 49.242.
DNF: Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Ducati), Fracesco Bagnaia (Ducati), Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing), Augusto Fernandez (GasGas Factory Racing).
