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After all the last-minute hassle, visa issues, bad PR, and snake infestation rumors (yes, this as well), the inaugural Bharat GP race event is all but ready. Friday's free practice sessions will kick off the first time in a decade that the Buddh International Circuit will have a global racing event. The track was built keeping the demands of Formula 1 in mind.
From 2011-2013, we had three F1 races on a grid that had an Indian driver in Narain Karthikeyan, a team named 'Force India' owned and run by Vijay Mallya. Among various reasons that vary from the notorious Indian customs department to motorsports still being a niche sport and a somewhat unfavorable spot in the calendar (October is arguably the worst month in terms of pollution in the Delhi NCR region), the Indian GP could only have three iterations before it fizzled out in 2013.
A decade later, MotoGP, the premier two-wheel racing series (some would say Formula One on two wheels) decided to give India a shot. After all the hassle, bikes hit the track on Friday and the business end of the weekend begins.
In all likelihood, these three days could very well decide the fate of Indian motorsports for the next decade.
The 'visagate' and last-minute hassle have resulted in poor PR for fans
By Thursday, every rider and team were at the Buddh International Circuit and having fun walking the track and looking at the facilities. Go back just a couple of days and the situation was tense.
Multiple riders, including star Honda rider Marc Marquez, had been forced to cancel his flight because the visa process had been delayed. This threw all the plans out of whack for multiple teams and the entire broadcasting unit that was making its way to the country.
In the end, while everything has been sorted for now, it's hard to deny that the ordeal might just have put a dent in the overall influx of fans. The uncertainty around the event meant that many fans were forced to cancel their travel plans and skip Bharat GP altogether, something that could have been avoided by any approach contrary to the radio silence that the organizers went with.
Without a doubt, the event is currently run at less than optimal conditions as the kind of influx of fans that we could have seen this year will just not be there because of the uncertainty around the race even going forward.
India has already lost the spot on the Formula-E calendar
The inaugural edition of the 2023 Bharat GP becomes important because India already held a global racing event earlier this year. Hyderabad hosted the first ever Formula E race in India and while the response was still positive, the country has already lost a spot on the calendar for 2024.
One of the main reasons behind it was the deficiencies on the management side of things. While the guffaws were not as big as the ones we've experienced with the Bharat GP, they were enough for the series to not consider India a viable destination for its next season.
These global motorsport events require stringent safety protocols and no compromises can be made on that front. To add to this, India is competing globally with the standards all over the globe.
In 2023 the country has two shots for kickstarting a motorsports culture. The first shot with the Formula E racing series has been already squandered. MotoGP is the second and maybe far more important one.
If somehow Bharat GP does not prove to be a success, India will lose MotoGP as well. Not only that, it will shut the door for any other motorsports series that could be eyeing the 1.4 billion population.
in all of this doom and gloom though, there are some very bright spots as well.
Both India and MotoGP are desperate for the event to succeed
Let's not get this twisted, while India certainly wants Bharat GP to be a major success, so does MotoGP. For the country, the event is the means to put the nation's name on the globe. For the racing series, however, it is an attempt to capture a market that is still very green in terms of knowledge.
Motorsports are a very niche bracket in India. F1 has grown a lot since Sebastian Vettel won the last edition in 2013 but MotoGP has not really captured the Indian imagination as such. To add to this, the series has been suffering with dwindling numbers globally as well.
The biggest star of the sport in the 21st century, Valentino Rossi, retired in 2021 and that has left a void. That void got even bigger when the second biggest star Marc Marquez injured himself in 2020 and has been majorly away from the front of the grid since then.
In India, MotoGP sees a massive market. In the 1.4 billion population, brands like Honda, Yamaha, KTM, and Ducati see the potential that could make them household names. The two Japanese brands have been household names in India for decades now while the Austrian brand has its presence in some pockets. Bharat GP is the perfect opportunity for them to grow their base.
The yearning for this event to be a success from both sides can be seen with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expected to be at the Budh International circuit on Saturday and meet Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta. This could go a long way in securing the immediate future of Bharat GP (even though it is a five-year contract until 2027, there are exit clauses in place).
The track layout and facilities for the 2023 Bharat GP compete with global standards
Coming to the more important part of the 2023 Bharat GP is the facilities that have received rave reviews from everyone. There were question marks over the safety of the track layout, but those have been answered with MotoGP riders admitting they were a bit harsh on the race even before coming to the track.
To add to this, one should not forget that the work that went into building the beautiful racing facility meant that the track rivals some of the best in the world. The undulating nature, of the straights, the section of the track that takes inspiration from the Senna esses from Japan's legendary F1 track in Suzuka, the potential of the MotoGP bikes reaching close to 370kph, and sections that aid overtaking make the track a potential favorite for the riders.
Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro said that the track has 'character' while his brother and KTM rider Pol Espargara felt that the track layout for the Bharat GP is one of the more 'fun tracks'. In terms of racing and action if the MotoGP product can deliver then that is one important checkbox that gets ticked.
Formula 1 will be a keen observer of how the event does
Most importantly, Bharat GP might just be an audition for what could possibly be a return for Formula 1 to India. The four-wheel racing series will keep an eye on the proceeding for sure because even F1 is at a crossroads at the moment.
The sporting series has had a home in China for decades now but with the Covid situation, it has not raced there for a few years. To make things worse, the political climate globally could force the series to take a step back from the Asian superpower.
On the other hand, India is not a nascent market anymore. F1 has grown and the fanbase has been getting bigger by the year. If Bharat GP proves to be a success and MotoGP decides to take a punt for 2024, rest assured Formula 1 will be watching because a 1.4 billion population is too big to ignore.
In conclusion, these three days could decide the future of Indian motorsports and the direction it takes for the next decade or so. If Bharat GP does not feature on the 2024 MotoGP calendar then we're looking at another decade-long wait before a global motorsport would dare to give India a shot.
If it does feature, however, this could be the inflection point for Indian motorsports.
