2023-09-20 14:30:51
Published on September 20, 2023 at 4:30 p.m. – updated on September 20, 2023 at 4:32 p.m. Mathieu Warnier
While many drivers and team members had difficulty obtaining their visa to enter India, the problems encountered were finally resolved in time and the Indian Grand Prix might take place without the planned program being amended. .
MotoGP will discover India well. While Kazakhstan had to withdraw last April due to delays in preparation, the engines will be roaring this weekend at the Buddh International Circuit, which hosted Formula 1 between 2011 and 2013. However, doubts were still permitted until this Wednesday due to a bureaucratic imbroglio concerning the issuance of visas for all members of the paddock. Indeed, many technicians and certain drivers including Marc Marquez had not yet obtained the precious sesame, essential to enter the country. While he was supposed to take the plane this Wednesday, the six-time world champion in the premier category saw the situation resolved late. The Spanish driver was thus able to accompany the members of the official Honda team who had not yet reached the suburbs of New Delhi this Wednesday and should arrive there this Thursday. While the agency commissioned by the championship organizer Dorna Sports to facilitate obtaining the necessary visas had been slow to do what was necessary, the promoter of the Indian Grand Prix assured this Tuesday in a press release that it was working “tirelessly to resolve this problem in the best possible way.
F1 predicted difficulties for MotoGP in India
“Nearly 500 visas have been issued and a large number will be issued shortly,” the company said in the same press release. Dedicated teams are doing everything possible to ensure that visas for all drivers, teams and technical officials are issued as soon as possible. » To justify this delay, the latter highlighted “an unforeseen technical problem which is an integral part of the challenges to be met during firsts like this”. Current F1 boss, Stefano Domenicali had not hidden from his MotoGP counterparts the difficulties associated with organizing a race in India. According to the British magazine Autosport, only two lower category pilots would still be blocked for diplomatic reasons with a solution expected as soon as possible. While this situation had called into question the very holding of this first round of the MotoGP championship on the Indian subcontinent, the weekend program will ultimately be unchanged as the stable association was assured that all its members’ staff were on site or close to arriving. The first tests will therefore take place this Friday, on a circuit that all the drivers will discover.
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