Moto GP 2023: All you need to know about top riders competing at Bharat Grand Prix - Part 1

MotoGP Bharat as the Indian Grand Prix was rechristened will be the 13th race in the 2023 circuit. The thrilling line up of 22 riders representing 11 teams is all set to take position on the Buddh International Circuit grid from September 22-24. Two riders from each team will be riding the bikes provided by renowned manufacturers such as Honda, Yamaha, KTM, Ducati, and Aprilia. 

Having been mightily impressive as a MotoGP™ rookie in 2019 and adding wins to his arsenal in 2020, Fabio Quartararo became France's inaugural premier class World Champion in 2021. A year later, Quartararo finished runner-up following a fascinating title fight with Francesco Bagnaia that was decided at the final race of the season. 2023 hasn’t gone to plan for Quartararo and Yamaha so far as an underperforming YZR-M1 has led to the Frenchman standing on a Sunday podium just once – P3 at the Grand Prix of The Americas. 

Moving into MotoGP™ in 2018 as the reigning Moto2™ World Champion, Morbidelli shone in 2020 when he finished runner-up in the Championship. That form saw him among the leading contenders for title glory in 2021, but a knee injury hampered his season. In the same year, Morbidelli partnered Quartararo at Monster Energy Yamaha. A disappointing 2022 has been followed by another quiet year on an underperforming Yamaha, as Morbidelli gets ready for a fresh chapter in his career in 2024. 

Francesco ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia arrived in MotoGP™ in 2019 having claimed the 2018 Moto2™ title. A debut MotoGP™ win came at Aragon in 2021 but a title charge ultimately slipped through his fingers. However, 2022 was a different story. Despite a slow start which saw him sit 91 points behind Quartararo, Bagnaia produced a stellar second half of 2022 to ultimately put him in a position to clinch the crown at the season finale. Sporting the #1 for the 2023 season, Pecco has been the rider to beat. Five Sunday victories, including three Sprint and Race doubles, sees the Italian lead the title race heading into the closing stage of the year. 

Enea Bastianini, aka ‘The Beast’, won the 2020 Moto2™ World Championship and quickly made a name for himself in the premier class. The Italian picked up a maiden MotoGP™ podium in his rookie season, and the start of his sophomore brought a debut win. Bastianini, despite being on a year-old bike at Gresini, won four races and finished third in the standings. A stunning year earned him a factory seat alongside Bagnaia for 2023, but a shoulder blade injury sustained in Portugal has hampered his year. At the Catalan GP, Bastianini injured his left ankle and hand and will unfortunately be sidelined until after the Japanese GP. 

Aged 34, Aleix Espargaro is the oldest rider on the grid as the Spaniard competes in his 13th consecutive premier class campaign. Espargaro’s debut podium came in 2014 riding an under powered Forward Yamaha, and after two years with Suzuki, his Aprilia adventure began in 2017. Tough years unfolded until a first rostrum with Aprilia came in 2021. Then, in 2022, Espargaro won his first GP and handed Aprilia their first in MotoGP™, with a hugely positive year ending with a P4 in the Championship. 2023 started slowly but Espargaro returned to winning ways with a double victory at the CatalanGP. 

2013 Moto3™ World Champion Maverick Viñales has been a MotoGP™ mainstay since 2015. The Spaniard claimed a debut win in the class at Silverstone in 2016 – Suzuki’s first win in almost a decade – before moving to Yamaha in 2017. After eight wins and plenty of podiums, Viñales’ successful relationship with Yamaha ended controversially midway through 2021 before a new chapter began at Aprilia. Viñales has four podiums so far with the Noale factory – two in 2022 and two in 2023 – as the partnership goes from strength to strength.