Luca Marini & Ducati Set New Buddh International Circuit Lap Record

Prior to 22 September 2023: 1 minute 55.963 seconds 

22 September 2023: 1 minute 44.782 seconds

Eleven seconds slashed off the lap record on the Buddh International Circuit for a two-wheeler. Thankfully, Ducati wouldn’t be too sad about it because even though it was their record to begin with, it still remains under their name. The earlier record was set by BIC regular and Ducati DRE instructor Dilip Lalwani astride his Panigale V4 with a full-system race Akrapovic exhaust. Currently, at the end of day one of running, it is Mooney VR46 rider Luca Marini who was fastest astride the Ducati GP22 MotoGP bike.

But the day was far more complicated. As is the case on any race weekend, the Moto3 riders set the early pace. Jaume Masia almost breached the 2 minute barrier in the first session while the combined times for both sessions saw the fastest Moto3 rider just a mere 3.5 seconds shy. Husqvarna’s Colin Veijer seemed more confident in the second session, with him and Masia being the only two riders under the 2 minute mark. Impressive considering they are racing 250cc single cylinder puny pocket rockets that weigh no more than a hundred kilos.

While the Moto3 riders came close, the Moto2 riders smashed it right at the start. The Triumph 765 cc triple-powered machines just romped ahead, with the fastest rider at the end of the first session being Somkiat Chantra from Thailand. Interestingly, Chantra is one of the few racers who has very little track time around the BIC as he was racing in the Asia Road Racing Championship in 2016 at the Delhi track. 

Chantra’s impressive 1 minute 52.596 second lap time was 3.5 seconds quicker than Lalwani’s and the Moto2 boys ended the day with the fastest time being 1 minute 52.105 seconds.

Then came the big gun slingers. Strutting their four-cylinder 300+ horsepower alien battleships on two-wheels. And while it began slowly, the times quickly came tumbling down. Valentino Rossi must be beaming back in Italy as his boys topped both sessions. Marco Bezzecchi was quickest in the morning one with a time of 1 minute 45.990 seconds and Luca Marini’s 1 minute 44.782 seconds was a mere 0.008 seconds quicker than championship contender Jorge Martin in the crucial Timed Practice session. 

Speaking with the riders after the day’s session, everyone came pretty pleased with none of the previous safety concerns being that much of an issue. Yes, the riders did state that they wish an area or two can be improved for future editions but for now, the racing can proceed. In fact, it was Marc Marquez who mentioned that every track still has 1 or 2 areas that could be better. So, this shouldn’t be that much of an issue.

The pressing matter here remains turn 1 and the heat. Firstly, every single rider has stated that the first turn is the trickiest to get right. Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro even went on to say that if riders messed up the first turn, their race would be instantly over with no chances of recovery. Over shooting the braking marker was a common event and one can’t blame the racers for trying to push their luck on this entirely unknown entity of a circuit. 

And the Indian heat. The riders suffer in Malaysia and Indonesia as well but they have mentioned that this Indian heat is on another level. Some even said that on the long back straight, the heat escaping from the bikes was almost cooking their necks, almost like a 'tandoori chicken'. 

So, Saturday approaches. The lap times are expected to go down further but not by much. Marc claims 1-1.5 second worth of improvement. And then there’s the spicy Sprint race to also contend with later. Who will be the winner winner and have his chicken dinner at the BIC? We wait with bated breath.