He was eagerly awaiting the Sachsenring, where he had also managed to sign a double last year, and indeed the German ups and downs have smiled on him for now, because Jorge Martin has finally managed to stem the comeback of Pecco Bagnaia. After the pole position this morning, the Prima Pramac Racing rider also took home the Sprint of the MotoGP German Grand Prix, his fourth this season, extending his lead to +15 over his rival, who also had to bow to a sensational Miguel Oliveira.
Thanks to an excellent start from the second row, Bagnaia managed to take advantage of the gap created by the long poleman Martin and Oliveira at the first braking point to take the lead of the race, with the Portuguese who with his Aprilia of Trackhouse Racing in turn took second position. That the Prima Pramac Racing rider had it, and a lot, was clear from the start, because at the start of the second lap he slipped inside Oliveira at turn 1, immediately taking second position. A maneuver that he tried to repeat a lap later also on Bagnaia, but ended up wide again and allowed Pecco to cross.
The reigning world champion’s leadership didn’t last long, however, because on the third lap he went a bit wide at turn 8 and Martin immediately took advantage of this to take the lead. This small mistake then made him lose pace and Oliveira also managed to slip between the two Ducati riders.
In fact, it was these first three laps that decided the race, because then Martin went a bit of a rubber band with Oliveira, until he managed to put together a margin of about a second, which he managed very well until crossing the finish line in front of everyone. For a few laps, Bagnaia instead tried to find a gap to at least take back the second place, but in the distance he had to surrender to the Portuguese, who therefore gave Trackhouse Racing its first podium, albeit in a Sprint.
At the foot of the podium is Enea Bastianini, who just like in Assen produced a great comeback from the third row of the grid. The feeling is that in the final he had more than Bagnaia, but probably he did not want to risk an overtaking that could have put at risk an important result for his team.
Completing the top 5 is a good Franco Morbidelli with the Prima Pramac Racing Ducati, but if we talk about comebacks we can’t fail to mention that of Marc Marquez: the Gresini Racing rider was still very sore in his side from yesterday’s accident, but this didn’t stop him from climbing from 13th place on the grid to sixth place, overtaking right on the last corner and beating in the sprint the Aprilia of Maverick Vinales, like him bruised after a violent highside in qualifying.
After seven Italian bikes, two points were also taken home by KTM, with Brad Binder quietly going to catch up in the world championship standings with rookie Pedro Acosta, last today after an excursion in the gravel. What weighs on the Mattighofen manufacturer is that both are already 111 points behind Martin in the World Championship.
The last point was instead conquered by Alex Marquez, with Marco Bezzecchi who had to settle for tenth place and Fabio Di Giannantonio who instead finished 12th with the other Ducati of Pertamina Enduro VR46, behind also the KTM of Jack Miller. Only 13th and first of the Japanese bikes, Fabio Quartararo, confirming the great difficulties that Yamaha is experiencing at the Sachsenring, where just two years ago it had achieved its last victory.
Raul Fernandez’s collapse is inexplicable, he ended up 14th after being in the top 5 in the early stages of the race. Behind him is Luca Marini, who this time managed to excel in the “Honda Cup” and 15th place is his best result of the season. It may not be much, but at least it is a small tangible step forward.
#MotoGP #Sachsenring #Martin #triumphs #Sprint #Bagnaia #3rd #Oliveira
