What a race, what drama and uncertainty until the end! The Indian GP was rich in emotions and today it was Marco Bezzecchi who dominated the race, where Francesco Bagnaia fell, and Fabio Quartararo finished on the podium… with Jorge Martín almost giving up second place on the last lap.
Everything ready at the Buddh circuit for the first race of Sunday in MotoGP: Marco Bezzechi started from pole position, with Jorge Martín and Francesco Bagnaia in first.
A curiosity: the three riders from the front row of the grid had different tire selections
And right from the start it was Martín who was the strongest, moving to the front immediately, with the first moments of the race without chaos, this time, in the first corner: only a few riders widened their trajectory but without any falls.
Na tardou ainda na primeira curva para Bagnaia passar para a frente, com Bezzecchi a passar depois para a liderança ainda na primeira volta. Top cinco após as primeiras três voltas: Bezzecchi, Bagnaia, Martín, Marc Márquez e Fabio Quartararo. O melhor piloto ao comando de uma KTM era Brad Binder (oitavo), com Aleix Espargaró a representar o melhor com uma Aprilia, em nono. Augusto Fernández era, entretanto, o primeiro a abandonar a corrida com os primeiros relatos a indicarem um problema na sua moto. A 16 voltas do final Márquez, que seguia em quarto, caiu na primeira volta mas retomou a corrida num distante 16.º lugar, atrás de Miguel Oliveira. 3.041s separavam o espanhol do português. Bezzechi mantinha-se na frente da corrida e com uma confortável margem para Martín, segundo: 3.324s, com Bagnaia por sua vez a estar a 0.533s de Martín. Quartararo era quarto depois da queda de Márquez, e Joan Mir mantinha viva a representação da Honda no top cinco. Com oito voltas concluídas na corrida assim estava o top dez:A little further down, Marc Márquez was already 15th, with Oliveira “falling” to 16th. Pol Espargaró was the next opponent in Márquez’s sights: 0.190s separated the two former teammates.
A. Espargaró was the next to have problems with his bike. The Spaniard was 19th and continued to ride but away from everything and everyone, with what seemed to be another mechanical issue, which would be confirmed shortly after: the Spaniard had, like Miguel Oliveira yesterday, a problem with the gear changes of his RS-GP.
As far as the race leadership is concerned, Bezzecchi remained very comfortable in the lead with a 4.5s advantage over Martín, with Bagnaia just… 0.040s behind. Quartararo was fourth and saw Bagnaia 1.727s ahead.
It was no surprise that Bagnaia confirmed the pass on Martín and… Quartararo was also gaining time on #89.
Eight laps from the end… disaster for Bagnaia. Shortly after moving up to second place, he lost control of his bike and crashed. Martín was again second and Quartararo was temporarily on the podium.
Seven laps from the end, this was the top five: Bezzecchi, Martín, Quartararo, Mir, and Brad Binder.
Here is the top ten with five laps to go, with a highlight note, Marc Márquez was already inside the top ten:
Seconds later and with part of his protective suit open, Martín “lost” a few tenths to close his suit, allowing Quartararo to get closer. 1.3s separated the opponents in the fight for second place.
Two laps to go and Bezzecchi was in a different “championship” given the difference to Martín, 6.850s. Quartararo remained in third place with a 3.616s advantage over Binder, who had recently overtaken Mir.
Fabio Di Giannantonio was also another casualty, abandoning the race.
And the drama was reserved for the last lap: Martín made a mistake and went wide, allowing Quartararo to reach second place. Martín immediately responded and regained the vice-leadership, but the Frenchman even managed to briefly get ahead of the Spaniard who… did not give up the position.
The race ended shortly after with Bezzecchi winning and closing in to 44 points from the championship lead:
