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After a delay of almost two hours due to rain, the very first MotoGP race on Indian soil got underway on Saturday with the shortened sprint contest. Run in dry conditions over 11 laps, Pramac Ducati rider Jorge Martin dominated the race by 1.389 seconds over championship leader Francesco Bagnaia . It has cut the factory Ducati rider's lead down to 33 points and marked Martin's fourth sprint success of the 2023 season. It also allowed Martin to pull further clear of VR46 Ducati rider Marco Bezzecchi in second in the standings, with this gap up to 36 points. Read Also: MotoGP Indian GP: Martin dominates chaotic sprint, Marquez third Bezzecchi was forced into a recovery ride having gotten a bad launch from pole position in the sprint. Team-mate Marini got a better launch from fourth and was able to draw alongside Bezzecchi into Turn 1, but outbraked himself and collided with his team-mate. Marini was taken out of the race on the spot while Bezzecchi … [Read more...] about Marini fractures collarbone in MotoGP sprint race crash with team-mate

The iconic figure-of-eight track has always been punishing on its rubber, but things could well be a bit more extreme this time around. Race day is expected to be another scorcher, and complaints that George Russell mentioned on Friday about a "strange" sliding have been caused by a track surface that has had a 15% drop in macro roughness (so effective grip) compared to 12 months ago. As Ferrari's Charles Leclerc said: "Especially with the very warm temperatures this year, the overheating is really, really bad. So, I expect that it [the race] will be all about the tyre management and the strategy." A two-stopper looks nailed on then, but it comes with not all teams having the luxury of what appears to be the ideal tyre allocation to get them through without much drama. F1 tyre supplier Pirelli thinks the best approach to the race is to start on the soft, run through until laps 12-18, and then split the rest of the grand prix up into two hard stints. But that is … [Read more...] about Are Red Bull and Ferrari on back foot for potential Japanese GP tyre wrecker?

Following a long delay to help dry up the starting grid, the 11-lap sprint got underway just after 5pm local time at the Buddh International Circuit, with VR46's Marco Bezzecchi starting from pole ahead of Pramac's Martin and team-mate Luca Marini . Martin got the best launch of the trio and immediately grabbed the lead, while Bezzecchi was trying to consolidate second when his team-mate Marini got the braking wrong for the tricky Turn 1, slamming into the back of his Ducati and sending him off the track. This gave Martin some clear air as he navigated the opening right-hander, with championship leader Francesco 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 2, with his Pramac-run Ducati clearly quicker than the works-entered GP22 of Bagnaia. Martin would pull out a lead of nearly three seconds by the middle part of the race but eased off … [Read more...] about MotoGP Indian GP: Martin dominates chaotic sprint, Marquez third

The American badly damaged his car during a high-speed crash in qualifying on Saturday, which has forced a change of chassis. The FIA discovered, however, that the team had assembled its spare car far more than was normally allowed according to the rules – so it was in effect judged to be a third car. Williams was summoned to the stewards on Sunday morning and explained that the problem was triggered by its mechanics beginning work on making up its spare chassis as soon as it became clear it had to be done. This was in theory done before teams are allowed to start such work. Following the stewards’ hearing, the FIA accepted the explanation from Williams about what happened, but said that it was mandated for it to hand down a penalty. With the change of chassis already automatically meaning Sargeant must start from the pitlane, it was decided that a further 10-second penalty would be given. A statement from the FIA said that it was aware of there being an issue in the … [Read more...] about Sargeant handed penalty for third car rules breach ahead of F1 Japanese GP

Carlos Sainz Jnr believes a late change to his car’s set-up compromised his qualifying result for the Japanese Grand Prix. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The Ferrari driver who took pole position for the last two rounds qualified sixth at Suzuka. His Q3 lap time was almost a second slower than that of pole winner Max Verstappen . After finishing Friday’s practice sessions second and fourth, Sainz attempted a different set-up for Saturday which affected his preparation on a circuit where he expected Ferrari would struggle. “We knew before coming here that this track would expose us a bit more with the high-speed characteristics,” said Sainz. “It was never going to be easy. I took the approach yesterday and this morning to try different things on the car. “By quali I saw it was not quite working, and we had to go back to a more basic set-up which in the end probably ended up compromising my quali preparation and my weekend in general.” Sainz was … [Read more...] about Sainz blames late set-up change for qualifying performance at Japanese GP

Home Off beat The IndianOil Grand Prix saw some thrilling motor racing action as Jorge Martin, Marco Bezzecchi, and Marc Marquez took center stage on the Buddh International Circuit. With top honors and pole position seized by Martin and Bezzecchi respectively, the anticipation for the main Sunday event is high. -Irwin Mills By Irwin Mills Updated: Saturday, September 23, 2023, 20:13 [IST] At the IndianOil Grand Prix of India, Jorge Martin took top honors in the Tissot Sprint, while Marco Bezzecchi from Mooney VR46 Racing Team seized pole position. Championship leader Bagnaia came second and eight-time world champion Marc Marquez secured the third position, marking his second season podium appearance. Jorge Martin's triumphant performance settings at the Buddh International Circuit could be seen as a thrilling preview of what's to come in Sunday’s main event, the IndianOil Grand Prix of India. Earlier that day, Marco Bezzecchi blazed … [Read more...] about The Battle for Supremacy: MotoGP India Sprint Race and Qualifying Report

Qualifying day at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka brought yet another fast-paced day of F1 news and views. Max Verstappen claimed his latest inevitable pole position and then had a message for the people who assumed Red Bull had been found out by the Singapore GP technical directive, while Mercedes were once again plunged into crisis with Lewis Hamilton airing his frustrations. Just another standard F1 2023 day, then. Here’s today’s roundup… Max Verstappen’s ‘to whom it may concern’ moment As bite backs go, Verstappen’s message to his doubters wasn’t quite on the level of Valtteri Bottas’s famous Australia 2019 radio call, but it was a juicy one nonetheless. There were more than a few who wanted to believe Red Bull had finally been found out in Singapore last weekend, but pole position by sixth tenths at Suzuka was an emphatic response. So what exactly was Max’s message to those people? “Go suck on an egg.” He went on to explain how the reaction to Red Bull’s poor … [Read more...] about Max Verstappen bites back as Mercedes crisis continues – F1 news roundup

At the start of Saturday’s delayed 11-lap sprint at the Buddh International Circuit, five riders ended up tangling into Turn 1. VR46 Ducati duo Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini collided into Turn 1, with the latter suffering a broken collarbone while his polesitting team-mate dropped down the back before recovering to fifth. At the same time as this incident, LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl touched the back of Tech3’s Augusto Fernandez , which sent the former crashing into the sister Tech3 GasGas of Pol Espargaro . This is the third time in four races that there has been a pile-up into Turn 1 in a race, after similar wrecks at the start of the Catalan GP and the Austrian GP sprint. Marini has since been handed a long lap penalty for his collision with Bezzecchi, which he will serve at the next grand prix in which he is fit enough to participate in, having been ruled out of the Indian GP. However, this punishment is the standard one for causing such an incident, with … [Read more...] about “Strong penalties” only way to stop constant MotoGP Turn 1 pile-ups

Reports of Red Bull’s reign of dominance over the 2023 season coming to an end have been greatly exaggerated. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free In a year when competition between their rivals behind has been as unpredictable as it has been gripping, Red Bull have routinely rocked up to paddocks across the globe only to crush all opposition with near-militaristic execution. Then, in Singapore, a rare stumble from the world champions offered hope that the Red Bull giant could indeed be toppled. Yet six days later, Red Bull and Max Verstappen reminded everyone just how powerful a combination they are when they stormed to pole position in Suzuka by one of the biggest margins of the season – and the largest for nearly 20 years at the famous Japanese circuit. Not that it was of any surprise to their opposition. “Our internal messaging was ‘expect them to be back out front when we get back to Suzuka’,” admitted Mercedes’ trackside engineering director Andrew … [Read more...] about Verstappen sitting pretty but unexpectedly hot track could cook up drama