The first MotoGP in India, the Indian Grand Prix, is scheduled to take place at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC). There will be 22 riders competing from 11 teams in the Grand Prix over the weekend while a total off 44 riders will be competing when the riders from Moto2 (30) and Moto3 (30) are accounted for. The BIC has earlier hosted the Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The race weekend will be divided into practice, the two qualifying sessions, a sprint race of 12 laps and then the main race on Sunday.
Here is a rundown on everything you need to know about the historic race.
Schedule
Friday will be the day the free practice sessions take place. The sessions will be conducted between 4pm and 5pm IST. Saturday's schedule starts at 10.40am, with the final practice session set to be held till 11.10am.
The first qualifying session will then take place from 11.20am to 11.35 am after which the second qualifying will be from 11.45am to 12pm. At the 3.30 the same day, the sprint race will take place and it is scheduled to get over at 4.15pm.
Sunday will be the main race day. The riders will warm up for 10 minutes starting at 11.20am. This will be followed by a fan parade from 11.30am to 12.05pm. The main race of 24 laps will then take place from 3.30pm to 4.20pm.
The venue
Located in Greater Noida just under 50km from the national capital, the Buddh International Circuit was constructed and opened in October 2011, with the design being revealed in November 2009. It was designed by German engineer Hermann Tike, who had also designed the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia and the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, among other famous venues around the world. The BIC hosted the Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix in 2011, 2012 and 2013. For the MotoGP, the length of the track will be 4.96km with a maximum width of 12m. There will be 13 corners, five left turns and eight right turns and the longest straight will be between Turns 3 and 4 of 1.0006km. Organisers Fairstreet Sports expects a top speed of over the world record 366.1kmph set by Brad Binder of Red Bull KTM this year.
The teams and their riders:
{{/usCountry}}Located in Greater Noida just under 50km from the national capital, the Buddh International Circuit was constructed and opened in October 2011, with the design being revealed in November 2009. It was designed by German engineer Hermann Tike, who had also designed the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia and the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, among other famous venues around the world. The BIC hosted the Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix in 2011, 2012 and 2013. For the MotoGP, the length of the track will be 4.96km with a maximum width of 12m. There will be 13 corners, five left turns and eight right turns and the longest straight will be between Turns 3 and 4 of 1.0006km. Organisers Fairstreet Sports expects a top speed of over the world record 366.1kmph set by Brad Binder of Red Bull KTM this year.
The teams and their riders:
{{/usCountry}}Eleven teams will be represented on the MotoGP grid, with two drivers turning out for each. Here is a list of the teams and their riders:
Yamaha: Fabio Quartararo (France) and Franco Morbidelli (Italy)
Ducati: Francesco Bagnaia (Italy) and Enea Bastianini (Italy)
Aprilia: Aleix Espargaro (Spain) and Maverick Vinales (Spain)
Honda: Marc Marquez (Spain) and Joan Mir (Spain)
KTM: Jack Miller (Australia) and Brad Binder (South Africa)
Gresini (Ducati): Alex Marquez (Spain) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Italy)
Pramac (Ducati): Johann Zarco (France) and Jorge Martin Almoguera (Spain)
VR46 (Ducati): Luca Marini (Italy) and Marco Bezzecchi (Italy)
RNF (Aprilia): Miguel Oliveira (Portugal) and Raul Fernandez (Spain)
Tech3 (KTM): Pol Espargaro (Spain) and Augusto Fernández Guerra (Spain)
LCR (Honda): Alex Rins (Spain) and Takaaki Nakagami (Japan)