Just over 58,000 people experienced the premiere of MotoGP in India live at the Buddh circuit. Numbers that fell far below expectations in the most populated country on the planet. What did happen were the very harsh conditions of heat and humidity that wreaked havoc on Sunday. The race had already been reduced from 24 to 21 laps and, despite the cut, the drivers of the premier class were pushed to the limit.
A true reflection of the harshness of the race was Jorge Martín, who as soon as he crossed the finish line in second, collapsed after suffering heat stroke. He had to be treated by the MotoGP medical director as soon as he got off the bike and after the podium ceremony he went directly to the circuit clinic. Skipping even one of the most sacred parts of the championship, such as the official press conference and the exchange with the television stations with rights to the championship. When he finally recovered, he was able to celebrate with his team a new podium that greatly revitalized the dream of the title.
All because of an unexpected error by the always reliable Pecco Bagnaia on lap 13. Just past the halfway mark of the race, the Italian had decided to take action, overtaking Martín a lap earlier to try to hit the table and reverse a trend which had caused him to lose advantage in the classification with the Spaniard in the last three grand prix. But what happened was a coup de theater when the reigning MotoGP champion crashed and opened the door to the championship wide.
The victory in Saturday’s sprint together with the second position in Sunday’s race places Martín only 13 points behind the MotoGP lead, when it was 66 less than a month ago. The dynamics now work in favor of the Spaniard when there are still seven grand prizes ahead of him.
devastating triumph
Nor can we rule out the winner of the Indian Grand Prix, Marco Bezzecchi, who is already 44 points behind Bagnaia. The young Italian talent was the strong man all weekend, he had taken pole and a mistake by his own teammate Luca Marini, deprived him of the full sprint, but he staged a comeback from last to fifth in just eleven laps. On Sunday he did not fail, he took the lead in the first lap and crossed the finish line with more than eight seconds ahead of Martín. And Bezzecchi’s was not an isolated victory for a driver who had already won in Argentina and France.
Martín was close to losing the second position he had secured. An error with the change on the last lap caused Quartararo to jump on him and pass him. However, the pride of the Madrid native, who barely had an ounce of strength left, allowed him to maintain that second place.
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