Jorge Martin dominated from start to finish as he secured the win in the Sprint Race at the MotoGP Indian Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida on Saturday.
“I was very strong in braking compared to the riders in front so I was able to pass as much as I could,” the Italian said. “I tried my best. Maybe with the normal length of the Sprint, I could do a bit more,” he added.
Race control had announced early in the day that they would shorten the race distance in the Sprint by a lap after riders complained of the extreme heat and humidity at the circuit. The main event on Sunday was also reduced to a 21-lap race.
The Pramac Ducati rider took off from second place on the grid, with a better start allowing him to ease ahead of pole-sitter Marco Bezzecchi.
The 25-year-old managed to build up a considerable gap behind him which crept up to around 2.5 seconds, before he mellowed down, settling for a 1.389-second lead at the chequered flag.
“It was a nice race. The moments before the race were difficult with a lot of time in the box it was difficult to get the concentration but everything went well,” the Spaniard said.
“The conditions of the track were good also. With lesser temperatures, it was nice to ride and everything was working a bit better,” he added.
“I’m the best Jorge Martin I have been in my career and I hope to keep improving. Hopefully, I can still improve,” the Championship contender said.
Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia also had a good day at the track, surrendering just three points to Martin after finishing second in his factory Ducati ahead of Marc Marquez, who rounded out the podium.
This was six-time World Champion Marquez’s best result since a third-place finish at the opening weekend at Portimao in Portugal and will give the Honda team some optimism about his future after Ducati boss Paolo Ciabatti confirmed on live television that Gresini Racing was in talks to sign the Spanish superstar.
The VR46 Racing team saw a swing in fortunes after dominating the first two days of the weekend with teammates Bezzecchi and Luca Marini colliding at Turn 1.
Marini missed his braking point and rammed into the back of pole-sitter Bezzecchi, crashing out of the Sprint at the first corner.
Bezzecchi managed to continue on and put in a stellar ride to finish fifth, managing to clock the fastest lap of the race in the process with a time of 1:44.556.
“I was very strong in braking compared to the riders in front so I was able to pass as much as I could,” the Italian said. “I tried my best. Maybe with the normal length of the Sprint, I could do a bit more,” he added.
“I hope to pass the first corner in tomorrow’s race,” said a frustrated Bezzecchi when asked about his chances for tomorrow. “If I am not safe in the first row then where do I start?” he said.
“It is three times I have been crashed into by someone else this season,” he said, referring to incidents at Catalunya, Jerez and Austria.
Marini was handed a long-lap penalty for causing the crash which he will serve at the next race in Japan as he has been ruled out of the race tomorrow with a broken collarbone.
Speaking about a turn of luck, KTM’s Brad Binder enjoyed a positive twist of fate after yellow flag-interrupted Qualifying sessions, as he made up 10 places to finish fourth with teammate Jack Miller also managing to finish in the points with a seventh-place finish.
Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo maximised his pace today with a sixth-place finish with Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales finishing in the last points-gaining place in eighth.
Vinales teammate Aleix Espargaro saw his day go from bad to worse after a poor qualifying performance was compounded by a crash during the race.
Repsol Honda rider Joan Mir also endured a calamitous race, crashing out in lap 3 after qualifying in a highly impressive fifth position.
The session was preceded by a wet weather session for the riders after the track saw a heavy downpour just ahead of the Moto3 Q2 session, with the riders trying out wet tyres for the first time this weekend.
The postponement of the session, which was scheduled to start at 16:38 IST, allowed the track to dry up enough as riders, led by Bezzecchi, were quick to discard the wet weather tyres for dry in the short session, which were also used in the entirety of the Sprint.
The Indian Grand Prix race is scheduled for 15:30 IST on Sunday and will see Marco Bezzecchi start on pole again, ahead of Martin and Bagnaia.
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