Marc Marquez, Honda MotoGP Buddh 2023
Marc Marquez, Honda MotoGP Buddh 2023

2023 Indian MotoGP: Friday practice LIVE UPDATES!

Francesco Bagnaia holds a 36-point title lead over Pramac’s Jorge Martin as MotoGP heads into the unknown with its Indian debut at the Buddh International Circuit.

Michelin is offering a wider choice of tyres for this weekend, four fronts and three rears, as MotoGP faces its first new event without any prior testing in over a decade.

To help adapt to the new track, both Friday practice sessions will be extended, to 70mins each.

Riders have been using video games to try and learn the 13-turn ex-F1 track, which features several sizeable straights, the longest at just over 1km.

“This track will be an equaliser. Those who can adapt fast will gain a huge advantage. It’s an open race,” said RNF team boss Razlan Razali.

Missing this weekend are Ducati’s Enea Bastianini - who fractured his hand and ankle during a multi-rider pile-up in Catalunya, moments before team-mate Bagnaia was run over following a highside - and LCR Honda’s Alex Rins, who is still recovering from leg fractures at Mugello in May.

HRC test rider Stefan Bradl will replace Rins with Ducati test rider Michele Pirro in place of Bastianini.

22 Sep 2023
13:03

That's it for Friday practice as Marini finishes fastest ahead of Martin.

12:56

Nakagami has gone down and his bike is being recovered on the circuit. 

12:55

Wow! Marini replaces Martin at the top of the leaderboard. 

12:54

A. Espargaro is in contention once again as he goes second - +0.043s down on Martin. 

12:51

Martin obliterates the top time as he sets a first 1m 44s lap. 

12:45

Quartararo goes second behind Bezzecchi. 

12:43

Bezzecchi goes fastest once again! Great lap from the Italian as he moves a tenth clear of Vinales. 

12:39

Vinales goes top by over three tenths before running off at turn one. 

12:39

Vinales is on a very, very fast lap half way around...

12:35

Marc Marquez has just moved up to P9 as the time attacks are about to begin with 20 minutes left of P2. 

12:31

Michele Pirro has come to a stop in the gravel at turn one. 

12:26

Martin is your new pacesetter as Luca Marini has crashed at turn one. 

12:10

Bezzecchi fires his Ducati back to the top of the leaderboard before running off at turn one again. 

12:06

Espargaro matches Martin's time to go top. 

12:04

Espargaro has made the same mistake as Bezzecchi at turn one and has ran through the gravel. 

12:02

Martin has now gone fastest after following Espargaro. It's a time of 1:46.182s from the Pramac Ducati rider.

11:59

Aleix Espargaro goes quickest by just under a tenth from Bezzecchi. 

11:58

Bezzecchi is pushing his luck as he takes a trip through the gravel at turn one. 

11:54

After topping FP1 it is Marco Bezzecchi that's again showing great speed. he's currently top ahead of Jorge Martin.

11:50

Jack Miller has already gone down at the start of Practice 2. 

11:46

We're underway with the second Friday MotoGP practice session at the Indian grand prix.

11:28
11:21

There is only nine minutes left of Moto2 FP2 before the second MotoGP practice gets underway at 11:45am. 

11:20

The delay to P2 getting underway is due to a lack of marshals at their designated posts. Moto2 has running in the meantime. 

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