MotoGP's first day at the Buddh International Circuit delivered a treat when Luca Marini of the Mooney VR46 Racing Team set a remarkable lap time of 1:44.782 in the second practice session. This put him 0.008 seconds ahead of the competition. As a result of his recent victory at the Misano Grand Prix, Jorge Martin of Prima Pramac Racing felt that he could take on the world. Although the Spaniard came in second during the second practice, he is widely considered the main contender heading into this weekend's races. Even Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) looked fast as he maintained his position at the front. Due to his ability to adapt quickly to new circumstances, the winner from Barcelona finished the Bharat GP's second practice session in third place.
MotoGP Bharat GP: What Did Riders Say after Friday’s session?
Many MotoGP riders are looking forward to Sunday's race after experiencing the Buddh International Circuit for the first time at Friday's session. The first MotoGP Bharat GP session featured 22 riders representing eleven teams, including KTM, Ducati, Honda, Yamaha, and Aprilia. Getting straight to it, here is what riders think of the Buddh International Circuit.
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VR46's Marco Bezzecchi, " The track was okay. I can't complain. I like the track, so it was good. It was tough, but it was good. it's very difficult to get turn one to stop the bike. Also because after you immediately have turn two, so every time you go a bit wide, you go on to. I made so many mistakes today to try to have a perfect reference, but it was not easy. I think turn 1 is the toughest point. But it is not the toughest part of the track."
KTM's Jack Miller, " The Track is way more technical. You've got those pastime chicanes, like a Mugello thing. But then all those buying stuff, the only place I can put it down to is maybe like a where you're aiming for the apex before you can get miles before you can even see it because it's just gone so far away from where you need to be. You're almost one of those ones that you end up riding on the field more than anything, but it's fun. It makes it fun as a rider."
KTM's Brad Binder, " I think it's just different. Honestly, it's really different to... I don't know if it's different or if it's just new. But I mean, if you look at Herres, for instance, we've done a million laps there, Valencia, a million laps. And to go somewhere new is always cool. So I had a great time today. Yeah, it's got some really tricky points where if you missed your breaking marker by half a meter or a meter, you run in super deep. You got to be precise here and I think it's a cool track."
Honda’s Marc Marquez: “When we arrive at a new track it’s true that I am able to quickly find the limit of the track. From FP1 I was there and in Practice 2 we were able to stay there even if we lost a little bit of margin as the overall grip came up. But finally, we were able to get a spot in Q2, which is the target, but I think many riders will make a step tomorrow. The front three rows of the grid and the objective for tomorrow and then let’s see what happens in the Sprint. The heat here is different to at other tracks but I don’t think it will be a big issue for tomorrow, for the long race on Sunday we will have to see.”
Honda’s Joan Mir: “In terms of the result it’s my best Friday of the season, so we have to be happy! In terms of feeling it was even better and I felt good from the morning session which made everything a bit easier. We spent the day working on details like the gear ratio today, and the normal things when you come to a new track. Then in Free Practice, we made another step forward to keep pace with other riders. I am really happy to go directly to Q2 because the lap we did was not perfect, so for tomorrow we have some margin to improve in qualifying.”
Yamaha's Fabio Quatararo, " The day didn’t start super good. I only completed about nine laps in the morning, so to learn this difficult track in the afternoon was not easy. Physically the track is not very tough, it’s just the heat. I had to get straight into the game, and we achieved our goal of getting straight into Q2, so it was a pretty good day. Hopefully, we can fight for a spot on the front three rows tomorrow and fight for a great result in the Sprint."
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Yamaha's Franco Morbidelli, "It was very hot out there. Apart from this, it was a good day. I had good speed with used tyres and also in the first time attack. But things didn’t work out for us later on. Many rivals were able to improve. I improved a little, step by step, time attack by time attack, but it was not enough. I think I rode alone a bit too much today. I was confident in my own speed and didn’t get a tow. I think that would have been really helpful to get into the top 10."
MotoGP Bharat GP: What Changes are Made to the Track Ahead of Grand Prix Of India
The BIC circuit is 4.96km long in total. The course has thirteen turns, eight on the right and five on the left, as well as a 1,006-metre-long straight just after turn three. The total race distance of this MotoGP event will be 118.97km, with 24 laps.
To handle the large-scale international premier motorcycle racing event, the BIC underwent significant upgrades, including the addition of new gravel portions and the installation of 1,800-metre-long safety barriers (including air fence barriers). Because of recent modifications, the BIC is now one of the few venues capable of hosting Formula 1 and MotoGP races. The Lusail International Circuit in Qatar, the Red Bull Ring in Austria, and the Circuit of the Americas in the United States are a few examples that can host F1 as well as MotoGP in the same place.
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