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India's first MotoGP race, the Bharat GP is looking at a tense next three-day period as the fate of the country's first major racing event in a decade hangs in the balance. India last had a major racing event in 2013 when Formula 1 held the 2013 F1 Indian GP.
Due to multiple issues surrounding taxation, customs, and in general, a lack of motorsport culture in the country, F1 had to give up on its effort of establishing a base in India. The track in Noida named Buddh International Circuit was made with major investment at the time and in terms of track layout, facilities, and the possibility of wheel-to-wheel racing, the potential was surely there.
The wrong timing for the race (October does not have the most pleasant weather in that part of the country) and arguably a lack of racing culture contributed to Formula One giving up on its efforts of setting up a sustained spot for India on its Calender.
Fast forward 10 years and MotoGP, the premier two-wheel racing series has turned its eyes towards India and decided to allocate a spot on the 2023 calendar for the Bharat GP.
At the time of writing, we are three days away from the first free practice session and the clouds of uncertainty over the Bharat GP continue to grow.
The major stumbling blocks ahead for the Bharat GP
The Visagate
Well, one of the major things for a racing event is to have the participants in the country. At the time of writing, Marc Marquez, arguably the biggest star in MotoGP, has missed his flight because the visas have not been processed for most of the teams.
A MotoGP event is a circus with a huge group that moves together from one race to another. This includes the riders, the teams, the support staff, the journalists, the broadcasting teams, and so on. It's a massive group that moves from one location to another.
According to Simon Patterson from The Race, Dorna (MotoGP commercial rights holder) had 'strongly recommended' the use of a local visa agency to expedite the process. Unfortunately, with just three days left for the bikes to hit the track, a chunk of journalists, riders, and team officials have not even received their visas.
It's hard to understand how something as major as this can be circumvented but it might surprise many that this is not even the most burning issue that the Bharat GP faces.
The lack of safety approvals
Arguably the biggest issue that has raised quite a few alarms is the fact that the Buddh International Circuit has not even been homologated by the FIM (the regulatory body of MotoGP). This would not have been a concern if there weren't some glaring issues with the track already.
The very first turn of the race track comes after a long straight and unlike F1, MotoGP requires much bigger run-off areas (because the bikes can reach higher top speeds and a brake failure can be catastrophic). This was one of the changes that were supposed to happen but have not been made for some reason.
As reported by The Race, Aprilia rider, Aleix Espargaro had said that the riders would do the grid walk together and make a call on whether the track was safe enough to race or not.
"I talked with some riders and they told me that they are really working hard changing things. The riders are going to talk all together on Thursday after seeing the track, and like I said last week, I want to believe that Dorna is working for our safety,” he stated.
While the Bharat GP organizers wait for the MotoGP circus to turn up and get the track homologation completed on Thursday, there seems to be another unwanted headache that has proper up in the form of an advisory issued by MotoGP medical director Doctor Angel Chartre about the number of snakes present at the track
Snake Infestation?
A snake infestation sounds strange for that particular part of the country and it does seem out of place. Having said that, for people coming from different parts of the world for the Bharat GP this is another red flag.
In his feature for The Race chronicling the pains that the entire MotoGP paddock faces ahead of the Bharat GP, Simon Patterson specifically touched on this strange challenge of 'poisonous snakes' that everyone will have to maneuver their way around.
This should have been done in a better manner!
At the end of the day, the blame game and accusations could fly in all corners ranging from Dorna (MotoGP commercial rights holder), Fairstreet Sports (the promoter of the event), or the Uttar Pradesh government whose chief minister Yogi Adityanath has taken special interest in the event. The bottom line is that the Bharat GP was going to be an international showcase for India.
As a nation, we stood toe to toe with many of the major countries in the world at the G20 summit a few weeks back. From the highs of G20 to now a woefully organized global event does not paint India in the brightest of lights.
For now, let's hope Bharat GP is salvaged and a success because the future of motorsports in India is contingent on how the race weekend pans out.
