MotoGP Indian Grand Prix: Mooney VR46’s Bezzecchi and Marini top the time charts in Free Practices

Blazing away: Marini set the pace and took the honours in the second session.
| Photo Credit: RV MOORTHY

It was a day of learning, adapting and finding the limits for the MotoGP riders as they unleashed their mean machines on the first day of running of the Indian Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit here on Friday.

In the two practice sessions held, Mooney VR46 Racing Team riders hogged the top of the times on their Ducati bikes. Marco Bezzecchi topped the first Free Practice session in the morning before Luca Marini did the same in the afternoon.

Both sessions were extended to 70 minutes to help the riders familiarise with the track and layout. The afternoon running on Friday called ‘Practice’ is a timed session in which the top-10 riders get a direct berth into the second part of qualifying (Q2) on Saturday morning. The results in Q2 determine the top-12 positions for the Sprint race on Saturday and Sunday’s Grand Prix.

The remaining 12 riders, who finished from 11th to 22nd in the second running on Friday, will participate in the Q1 session on Saturday. The two fastest riders in Q1 will join the 10 riders in Q2 to fight for the pole position.

Championship contender Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) was up to speed in both sessions and finished 0.008 seconds behind Marini in the afternoon session on his Ducati.

The Aprilia riders of Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales were third and sixth, respectively. Six-time MotoGP title winner Marc Marquez was fourth-fastest in the factory Honda, with Bezzecchi rounding out the top five.

Ducati’s factory rider and reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia could only manage seventh-fastest. The 2021 champion Fabio Quartararo was eighth in his Yamaha ahead of Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) and Joan Mir (Honda), who completed the top-10.

The big loser in Friday’s Practice session was KTM Factory Racing rider Brad Binder, who finished 12th. The South African is fourth in the championship and set a time good enough to be in the top-10 on his last timed lap, but it was cancelled, as he did it under yellow flag conditions.

The day was also physically demanding for the riders, with high ambient temperatures making the bikes and engines uncomfortably hot.