Italian race Marco Bezzecchi of Mooney VR46 Racing Team claims a trophy in the first-ever Indian Grand Prix 2023 on Sunday, September 24. Bezzecchi recorded a dominant display at Greater Noida's Buddh International Stadium with a 36:59.157s finish to beat the likes of Jorge Martin and season-leader Francesco Bagnaia.
Bezzecchi secured a pole position on Saturday by a narrow margin but managed to dominate the race with a stunning performance from lap 1. He finished ahead of Jorge with a notable difference of +8.649 seconds.
The current world champion and Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia did not finish the race as he crashed his Ducati at turn four during lap no.13. His retirement added extra heat in the title race this season as his closest rivals Jorge Martin and Bezzecchi claimed considerable points with podium finish.
The legendary Marc Vazquez, eight-time world champion, crashed during lap six and was forced down to 16th position. But he made a remarkable comeback to finish the race in the 9th position and clinched points.
Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo achieved his second podium finish of the season, his first in the last 10 races, ahead of Red Bull's Brad Binder. Apart from Bagnaia, Gresini Racing MotoGP's Fabio Di Giannantonio, Aprilia Racing's Aleix Espargaro and GasGas Factory Racing Tech3's Augusto Fernández did not finish the Indian MotoGP race.
Indian MotoGP 2023 Race result:
- Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) - 36:59.1570s
- Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) - +8.649
- Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) - +8.855
- Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) - +12.643
- Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team) - +13.214
- Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) - +14.673
- Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) - +16.946
- Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) - +17.191
- Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) - +19.118
- Raul Fernandez (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team) - +26.504
Motor racing returned to India after a gap of nine years. The same venue hosted three Formula 1 races during 2011-13 and now successfully organized the first-ever Grand Prix motorcycle racing event. MotoGP will be seen next in action during the Motul Grand Prix of Japan on October 1 where Marco Bezzecchi will target to close the gap for the top spot in the Riders' standings of the season.
