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Rachit Thukral

MotoGP Indian GP: Martin wins chaotic sprint as VR46 duo collide, Marquez third

Following a long delay to help dry up the starting grid, the 11-lap sprint - shortened due to extreme heat and originally scheduled to start at 3:30pm local time - got under way just after 5pm at the Buddh International Circuit, with VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi starting from pole ahead of Pramac’s Martin and world champion Francesco Bagnaia.

Martin got the best launch of the trio and immediately grabbed the lead, while Bezzecchi was trying to consolidate second when his team-mate Luca Marini got the braking wrong for the tricky Turn 1, slamming into the back of his Ducati.

Marini was out on the spot, while Bezzecchi was forced to the back of the field.

This gave Martin some clear air as he navigated the opening right-hander, with championship leader Bagnaia moving to second on the factory Ducati ahead of factory Honda duo Joan Mir and Marc Marquez.

Martin was already a second clear of the chasing pack by the end of lap two, with his Pramac-run Ducati clearly quicker than the works-entered GP23 of Bagnaia.

Martin would pull out a lead of nearly three seconds by the middle part of the race, but eased off on the final lap to take the chequered flag by 1.4s.

It was Martin’s second consecutive sprint race win following his victory at Misano earlier this month, and helps him make further inroads into Bagnaia’s championship lead as he cuts it to 33 points.

Bagnaia initially came under pressure from the Honda of Marquez, who had cleared his team-mate Mir early on, but the Spaniard couldn’t keep up the pace in the second half of the race, allowing the Ducati rider to hold on to second position.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team (Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images)

Third place still marked Marquez’s first podium since the Portugal sprint at round one.

Marquez’s team-mate Mir crashed out of the race at Turn 3 on lap four, allowing Brad Binder to claim a respectable fourth for KTM.

Binder had closed in on Marquez during the middle parts of the race, but the Honda rider was able to fend off his advances, forcing Binder to settle for fourth having started 13th.

After being hit by team-mate Marini at the start and dropping to the rear of the pack, Bezzecchi pulled off a heroic comeback, getting back into the points on lap six and passing the lead Yamaha of Fabio Quartararo late on to grab an incredible fifth.

Behind Quartararo, Jack Miller also recovered from 15th to claim seventh, while Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales and RNF rider Raul Fernandez completed the list of points scorers in eighth and ninth respectively.

Vinales’ team-mate Aleix Espargaro endured a nightmare race, dropping to 13th on the opening lap before slumping to 18th with another error. His race came to an early end when he suffered a crash at the final corner with just a few laps to run.

Pramac’s Johann Zarco also couldn’t finish from the race after a slow crash at Turn 3, while Stefan Bradl (LCR) and Pol Espargaro (Tech3) were among the first to retire, with Bradl slamming into the back of Espargaro at the start in a crash that was nearly identical to that of the VR46 pair's.

MotoGP Indian GP sprint results

 
 
         
Driver Info
 
 
 
   
Cla Rider # Bike Laps Time Interval km/h Retirement Points
1 Spain J. Martin Pramac Racing 89 Ducati 11 19'18.836   171.2   12
2 Italy F. Bagnaia Ducati Team 1 Ducati 11 +1.389 1.389 170.9   9
3 Spain M. Marquez Repsol Honda Team 93 Honda 11 +2.405 1.016 170.8   7
4 South Africa B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 33 KTM 11 +2.904 0.499 170.7   6
5 Italy M. Bezzecchi Team VR46 72 Ducati 11 +3.266 0.362 170.7   5
6 France F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing 20 Yamaha 11 +4.327 1.061 170.5   4
7 Australia J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 43 KTM 11 +7.172 2.845 170.1   3
8 Spain M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team 12 Aprilia 11 +8.798 1.626 169.9   2
9 Spain R. Fernández RNF Racing 25 Aprilia 11 +10.530 1.732 169.6   1
10 Italy F. Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing 49 Ducati 11 +10.826 0.296 169.6    
11 Spain A. Fernandez Tech 3 37 KTM 11 +11.456 0.630 169.5    
12 Portugal M. Oliveira RNF Racing 88 Aprilia 11 +15.415 3.959 168.9    
13 Japan T. Nakagami Team LCR 30 Honda 11 +17.437 2.022 168.6    
14 Italy M. Pirro Ducati Team 51 Ducati 11 +23.714 6.277 167.7    
15 Italy F. Morbidelli Yamaha Factory Racing 21 Yamaha 11 +36.468 12.754 165.9    
dnf Spain A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team 41 Aprilia 7 +4 Laps 4 Laps 168.5 Accident  
dnf France J. Zarco Pramac Racing 5 Ducati 6 +5 Laps 1 Lap 164.7 Retirement  
dnf Spain J. Mir Repsol Honda Team 36 Honda 3 +8 Laps 3 Laps 169.8 Accident  
dnf Italy L. Marini Team VR46 10 Ducati 0       Accident  
dnf Spain P. Espargaro Tech 3 44 KTM 0       Accident  
dnf Germany S. Bradl Team LCR 6 Honda 0       Accident  
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