MotoGP Bharat GP: Bezzecchi Leads FP1 at Buddh International Circuit, Followed by Honda's Marc Marquez

The inaugural Indian MotoGP event kicked off with an extended opening practice session that saw Marco Bezzecchi leading the way, closely followed by Honda's Marc Marquez. Yamaha faced some technical issues during the session with Fabio Quartararo, prompting the team to bring in Franco Morbidelli as a precautionary measure.

While several riders had their moments in the gravel trap, particularly while braking for the Turn 1 hairpin, none had as unfortunate an incident as Takaaki Nakagami, who lost control of his LCR Honda. Francesco Bagnaia, the current championship leader, finished the session in 15th place.

As MotoGP makes its debut in India at the Buddh International Circuit, Bagnaia holds a 36-point lead in the championship over Jorge Martin of Pramac. Since there has been no prior MotoGP testing on this track, it's a fresh start for all riders. The former F1 circuit boasts 13 turns and numerous long straights, the longest of which is just over 1km in length. Riders have been using computer games to familiarize themselves with the track ahead of the race.

MotoGP Bharat GP: Free Practice 1 Result

In the first ten minutes of practice, Pramac rider Martin was the first to break the 1-minute and 50-second time barrier with a lap time of 1 minute and 49.358 seconds. His VR46 competitor, Marini, responded with a 0.017 seconds slower lap time. The lap times at the 4.9 km track were falling rapidly, but on his third attempt, Marini improved by nearly two seconds to produce a 1m47.880s flyer. Around 15 minutes into the session, Aleix Espargaro broke the duopoly of Marini and Martin by improving to 1m47.611s on the track, which is predicted to favour the Noale outfit.

The first rider into the 1:45s!

Bezzecchi ups the pace late on! #IndianGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/B7xOYh2MUv

— MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) September 22, 2023

Espargaro's time remained undefeated until around halfway through the practice. Martin, who had fallen as low as sixth in the order, made up the lost ground, clocking an impressive lap time of blazing 1 minute 46.817 seconds.

MotoGP Bharat GP: Yamaha’s Trouble at Buddh International Circuit

Fabio Quartararo's Yamaha motorcycle suffered a breakdown at the BIC, forcing him to pull over near the fence and find an alternative way to get back to the pit garage. Shortly after resuming his ride on the backup motorcycle, Fabio had another mechanical issue with his motorcycle, causing him to come to a halt. Determined to continue, Fabio took matters into his own hands and pushed the motorcycle all the way back to his assigned pit garage without assistance.

Woah, that didn't sound so nice!#IndianGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/V2PMCWbhew

— MotoGP (@MotoGP) September 22, 2023

It seems that an issue with the gearbox or clutch mechanics was responsible for the unfortunate events. Because of these setbacks, the Frenchman lost a lot of critical track time. Consequently, they decided to cut Franco Morbidelli's session short and keep him in the pit lane.