It was the penultimate race of the 2022 season and the stakes were high for both, Yamaha and Ducati. While the Japanese manufacturer and its French rider, Fabio Quartararo were chasing their consecutive championship, the Italian manufacturer and its rider, Francesco Bagnaia aimed to end the 15-year-long drought and win their first title after the Australian racer, Casey Stoner clinched the trophy back in 2007.
Now, no matter how much I try to paint an exciting picture here, you know that Bagnaia, who once trailed by 91 points on the table, has now almost grabbed the trophy, leading the championship by 23 points over the 2021 Champion and his closest rival in 2022, Quartararo. The final nail will come at the Valencian GP in the first week of November, and it’s safe to assume that Ducati’s 15-year-long wait will end soon. That will happen when it does, but you are probably here because of the title – my first experience of watching a MotoGP race on a track.
About a month before the Malaysian GP, Yamaha Motor India sent out invites for journalists to travel to the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) for the penultimate race on the MotoGP calendar. The journey to the racetrack wasn’t smooth, and a botched Malaysian e-visa website threatened the plans. Yet, the folks at Yamaha Motor India ensured that despite the hurdles, we got the visas in place. And it was only a day before we were meant to leave for the event when we received the necessary documents.
Then came the day, a Saturday morning that I long awaited. Well, I had hoped to be at the track on Friday to witness the free practice sessions too, but that didn’t work out. Nevertheless, it was time. We de-boarded the cab and moved towards the grand entrance of the Sepang International Circuit. The iconic grandstand of the circuit, one which I had only seen through the screens until now, was in front of my eyes. In fact, even before I could see the motorcycles, I heard them at full chat, going down the start/finish straight of the racetrack. Those were the Moto2 motorcycles with the Triumph’s 765cc inline-three cylinder engine making rounds of the 5.5km-long Sepang circuit in the third free practice session of the weekend.
I had only begun to soak in the views and the fuel fumes from the exhausts that filled the atmosphere when Yamaha Motor India representatives brought us the paddock passes. Now, watching a race from the grandstand is a mesmerising experience, but being in the paddocks is dreamlike. Just watching the cab approach the entrance of the paddock area was as exciting as watching the first instalment of the Jurassic Park movie.
Now, I have only seen the riders on television, watching the dramatic shots through the talented camera operators on the track. But here’s an all-new image – we saw Jake Dixon casually walking from the pits to the team common area – and then again, at least a dozen more times through that weekend. We got an opportunity to meet and wish Bagnaia and Quartararo for the upcoming races, and click a few pictures with both of them, and with Alex Rins and Franco Morbidelli.
Then, there were team managers like Lin Jarvis, Davide Tardozzi, and Luigi Dall'Igna who were noticeably busy ahead of the Malaysian GP. We did, however, have an opportunity to meet and talk with Paolo Ciabatti of the Factory Ducati Team and Claudio Calabresi from Pramac Ducati, and had an up-close experience of the MotoGP pits thanks to Siddhartha Varma of Ducati Motor Holding.
Now, this has spoiled me forever. You see, starting next year, we will have the Bharat GP that will take place at the Buddh International Circuit, and I am most likely to purchase the tickets for the weekend. But nothing will replace this experience of witnessing the entire event from the paddocks – a rarest of rare opportunity for most of us – and it is going to be hard to top this.
