Win for Mahindra, win for India
Francesco Bagnaia’s ballsy move hands the Indian manufacturer its first Moto3 win at the Dutch TT
WWHEN MAHINDRA announced their intention to go Grand Prix motorcycle racing in 2010 by entering the then 125cc class they knew the task would not be easy, especially against entrenched rivals like Aprilia, KTM and Honda who have some serious racing pedigree. Anand Mahindra on the occasion said, “The Indians are coming.” Mahindra did get the final pole position for the 125cc class at Valencia with Danny Webb. And they had to wait another two years to get their first podium in the new Moto3 class at Malaysia with Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira.
But the win remained elusive. Until June 26, 2016. A historic day for Indian motorsports as Mahindra Racing’s Francesco Bagnaia rode down the inside of fellow Italian Andrea Migno at the final chicane at the historic Assen track to hand Mahindra their first win.
In typical Moto3 fashion, there were five riders vying for the win, all Italians. The group of seven riders, with pole-man Bulega and Bastianini crashing out with only four laps left. Romano Fenati of the Sky VR46 KTM team was leading the race with three laps to go with Niccolo Antonelli, Bagnaia, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Andrea Migno behind him. They kept swapping for positions for the next two laps with Bagnaia crossing the penultimate lap ahead of the group. After the Ruskenhoek chicane, Migno slipstreamed past Bagnaia with Fenati in tow. Giannantonio overtook all three of the riders heading in to the final chicane but Migno and Bagnaia both made their moves at the chicane itself.
Bagnaia getting the better drive out of the final corner, snatched victory by 0.018 seconds from Migno. Migno’s move on Giannantonia was deemed illegal and hence was demoted to third with Fenati and Antonelli completing an all-Italian top five.
On hearing of the victory Anand Mahindra tweeted, “How do I explain my emotions? Sorry for being a wimp, but I am moved to tears. Triumph over so many hurdles and scepticism.”
Race winner Bagnaia was expectedly over the moon. “I didn’t believe it when I saw the chequered flag, but we knew that we were fast and strong this weekend. It was really important to stay at the front. In the last two corners I thought it was impossible to get first, but finally I just did it, and it was incredible for me and for Mahindra.”
Building on their success at the next race, Mahindra came to Sachsenring in Germany with technical updates to the bike with a brand new transmission. They faced hurdles in the setup and with changing weather conditions, they couldnt get the best out of the bike.
Bagnaia finished tenth after a miserable qualifying. Sister-manufacturer, Peugoet Racing’s John McPhee was riding in the leading pack and high as third at one point. But he had a moment, forcing him to take evasive actions and hence finished sixth.
The technical upgrades to the MGP3O were put to test two weeks later with Mahindra Racing rider Marco Bezzecchi winning both CIV races at the Italian National Motorcycle Racing Championship in Misano. The race was like a home race as Mahindra Racing’s technical development centre is based at Besozzo, near Varese in northern Italy. Entered as a wild card, Bezzecchi also set the fastest lap time.
“We are delighted at this fantastic performance by Marco on the Mahindra MGP30”, said Mufaddal Choonia, CEO, Mahindra Racing. “The team’s hard work to enhance the performance of our racing bike is clearly bearing fruit which gives us the confidence that we are moving in the right direction.”