Indian MotoGP, Buddh – Sprint Race Results

*Rookie.

Jorge Martin takes another nibble out of Francesco Bagnaia’s title lead with victory in a delayed 2023 Indian MotoGP Sprint race at the Buddh International Circuit.

The Pramac Ducati rider snatched the lead into Turn 1 and was never headed.

Bagnaia likewise held second for all 11 laps with Marc Marquez completing the podium for Repsol Honda, his first top-three finish since the Portimao Sprint.

Pole qualifier Marco Bezzecchi was hit by VR46 team-mate Luca Marini into turn 1, then showed what might have been by being the fastest rider on track as he fought his way from last to fifth.

Joan Mir briefly enjoyed his best race as a Honda rider, chasing team-mate Marquez for third before running wide and then, a few corners later, falling on lap 4.

Brad Binder took over the pursuit of the #93, the KTM rider getting close enough to attack Marquez only to make a small mistake.

Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo could do nothing to hold Bezzecchi at bay, who outbraked the Frenchman on the penultimate lap.

Sixth was still Quartararo’s best result since the Sprint podium at Assen.

• Ducati: Gresini has Marc Marquez ‘opportunity’, ‘waiting for his decision’
• Alex Marquez out of India with rib fractures

The afternoon schedule was revised due to an earlier downpour, with an additional ‘wet’ practice inserted just before the Sprint.

However the track was almost fully dry for that 15-minute session and continued to improve for the Sprint start, but with concerns raised by riders over the damp patches in areas with critical run-off plus parts of the starting grid.

After more short delays, to allow the track to dry further, the reduced 21-rider field – after rib fractures for Alex Marquez in qualifying – finally charged into Turn 1 with Martin grabbing the holeshot from second on the grid.

But there was drama behind with pole man Bezzecchi hit from behind by Marini, whose rear wheel was high in the air as he frantically tried to stop.

Bezzecchi rejoined last while Marini was down and out, and soon joined in the gravel by two other riders.

Stefan Bradl made a carbon copy of the Italian’s error, clipping the back of Augusto Fernandez and then Pol Espargaro, with only the rookie remaining on two wheels.

The Turn 1 incidents will be reviewed after the race.

Martin’s team-mate Johann Zarco joined Mir in falling on his own, in the middle stages, with Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro later tumbling from outside the points.

All riders used the medium front and soft rear slicks.

• Indian Moto2: Latest Results
• Indian Moto3: Latest Results

Following Friday’s feedback from riders and official tyre suppliers in the hot and humid conditions, race distances were adjusted with one lap taken off the MotoGP Sprint, Moto2 and Moto3 races, while Sunday’s MotoGP Grand Prix will be shortened by three laps:

MotoGP Sprint: 11 laps
Moto3: 16 laps
Moto2: 18 laps
MotoGP: 21 laps

Bagnaia held a 36-point title lead over Pramac’s Jorge Martin heading into the Sprint.

Michelin is offering a wider choice of tyres for this weekend, four fronts and three rears, as MotoGP faces its first new event without any prior testing in over a decade.

The 13-turn ex-F1 track features several sizeable straights, the longest at just over 1km, plus banked corners at 8 & 9 plus what proved to be a tricky Turn 1 in Friday practice.

Missing this weekend are Ducati’s Enea Bastianini – who fractured his hand and ankle during a multi-rider pile-up in Catalunya, moments before team-mate Bagnaia was run over following a highside – and LCR Honda’s Alex Rins, who is still recovering from leg fractures at Mugello in May.

HRC test rider Stefan Bradl will replace Rins with Ducati test rider Michele Pirro in place of Bastianini.