Jorge Martin won the maiden MotoGP race in India with a masterful display in the sprint in Dankaur.
The podium was completed by reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez, with the latter finishing in the top three for the first time since the Portuguese Grand Prix sprint back in March.
Reigning world champion Bagnaia finished 1.389 seconds adrift of Martin, while Marquez was victorious in a tense battle for third with Brad Binder.
Speaking after his victory, Martin told TNT Sports: “It was tricky and stressful because of the conditions. The last practice before the race was quite complicated, but I understood why.
“Straight away I started well and put a good pace in the track and then I tried to control the gap between me and Pecco [Bagnaia], to try to get more information for tomorrow.”
The very hot, humid and wet conditions meant that the race distances were adjusted this weekend, with the sprint race shortened to 11 laps, whole Sunday’s main Grand Prix is now three laps shorter at 21.
There was a lengthy delay for the track to dry out after incessant rain during the afternoon, and once the race finally got underway, controversy ensued.
A first-corner collision between pole sitter Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini allowed Martin into a lead that he never relinquished.
That crash had two more victims in Pol Espargaro and Stefan Bradl, while Joan Mir took a tumble on lap three and appeared to have caught his hand under the exhaust.
Johann Zarco was next to go down and surrendered sixth spot, while Bezzecchi made a remarkable resurgence to move ahead of Maverick Vinales as the race headed into the final five laps.
Bezzecchi ended the race in stunning fashion and eventually finished fifth, a real redemptive ride after the early incident that saw him fall down the order.
Raul Fernandez and Alex Marquez finished in the top two spots in Qualifying 1, but the latter was ruled out for the remainder of the weekend and is likely to miss next week’s race in Japan after fracturing three ribs.
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