Marco Bezzecchi led Free Practice 1 at the inaugural Indian round of the MotoGP World Championship at the Buddh International Circuit.
The Italian put his VR46 Ducati on top with a best time of 1:45.990s, with Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez making an eye-catching start to the weekend in second at the former F1 circuit, which features spectacular banked corners at Turns 8 and 9 and a one-kilometre back straight.
Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia made a tentative start in FP1 and was 15th, 1.060s down on Bezzecchi as Round 13 got underway.
Jorge Martin, who trails Bagnaia in the title race by 36 points after closing the gap with a double last time out at Misano in Italy, was eighth.
The Pramac Ducati rider had set the early pace and featured prominently at the top of the leaderboard before dropping several places in the final stages of the extended, 80-minute session.
As the riders began to get a feel for the circuit, Turn 1 quickly began to prove problematic, with Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro running into the gravel at the hard-braking first corner.
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South African Brad Binder then unceremoniously dumped his Red Bull KTM at Turn 1 around 10 minutes into the session.
HRC test rider Stefan Bradl, Ducati stand-in Michele Pirro, and Honda’s Marquez were all caught out at the tricky Turn 1, managing to keep their machines upright in the gravel.
Ducati test rider Pirro, who is deputising for the injured Enea Bastianini, earlier came off on his out lap at Turn 5. The Italian was looking behind him when he crashed off-line.
In a miserable start for Yamaha, Fabio Quartararo initially encountered a technical issue with 45 minutes to go on the Monster Energy Yamaha M1.
Quartararo returned to the track but ran into more problems with the YZR-M1, with the frustrated Frenchman pulling off on the straight.
His team-mate, Franco Morbidelli, was called into the pits as a precaution, leaving Yamaha with work to do.
VR46 Ducati’s Luca Marini had a spell at the top after setting a 1:47.9s, which was seven tenths faster than Martin, while Marc Marquez held third.
With 45 minutes remaining on the clock, Espargaro climbed to the top of the times on the factory Aprilia, posting a 1:47.6s. The Spaniard was 0.235s ahead of Augusto Fernandez on the GasGas Tech3 KTM, with Marini third ahead of Morbidelli, Aprilia Racing’s Maverick Viñales and Joan Mir (Repsol Honda).
Japan’s Takaaki Nakagami had a big crash at Turn 1 on the LCR Honda, when his RCV was badly damaged. Nakagami went down under braking and slid into the gravel but appeared to escape unhurt.
Martin bettered his time on the Pramac Ducati to lead the session again with a 1:46.817s, heading Marini by 0.023s with Bezzecchi moving into third.
Alex Marquez also improved on the Gresini Ducati as he slotted into fourth, 0.259s down on Martin, with Marquez fifth with 10 minutes left.
Martin went quicker again after fitting a soft rear and although he was briefly demoted by Viñales, Martin set another fastest lap.
However, with four minutes remaining, Bezzecchi broke into the 1:35s bracket to take over at the summit and it was Marc Marquez who went closest to the Italian in the final seconds, jumping to second on his last lap as the chequered flag was waved, 0.139s behind.
Binder also fired in a late hot lap on the KTM for third, 0.320s behind Bezzecchi, with Raul Fernandez impressing on the satellite RNF Aprilia in fourth.
Viñales and Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) rounded out the top six with Marini and Martin in seventh and eighth respectively, six tenths off Bezzecchi’s pace.
Bagnaia was 15th-quickest on the factory Ducati, a second down on the FP1 benchmark set by fellow Ducati rider Bezzecchi and one place ahead of Australian Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM).
Mir was 10th on the Repsol Honda ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Ducati).
Pol Espargaro crashed twice in a tough start to the weekend for the GasGas Tech3 KTM rider, who was 18th.
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