MotoGP Sachsenring: Jorge Martin beats Pecco Bagnaia to secure the double

Jorge Martin came out on top in a bar-to-bar battle with Pecco Bagnaia at the Sachsenring to secure his second career MotoGP Grand Prix victory.

Martin completes the double in Germany having won Saturday’s sprint race. He and the reigning champion were inseparable for the majority of the race.

Martin took the lead of the race at the bottom of the waterfall on lap three, but Bagnaia was never too far behind. After closing in, Bagnaia made his move at turn 12 on lap 21, however Martin returned the favour on lap 24.

At the end of the penultimate lap, Bagnaia clipped the back of Martin on the exit of the final corner, allowing Martin to pull away slightly as the pair started the final lap. Whilst he closest in again, Bagnaia lost out on the drag race to the line by 0.064s.

After taking the maximum 37 points on offer at the Sachsenring, Martin is now only 16 points behind Bagnaia in the championship standings.

Johann Zarco completed the podium on the second Pramac Racing Ducati, whilst Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini ensured that Ducati locked out the top five.

Jack Miller was sixth for Red Bull KTM. The Aussie made the best start to the race and led the opening few corners, but dropped to fourth in one go through the waterfall section of the circuit.

Enea Bastianini, Alex Marquez and Fabio di Giannantonio were next up on their respective Ducati machines, meaning that all eight of the Italian manufacturer’s riders finished inside the top 10.

Miguel Oliveira completed the top 10 for RNF Racing Aprilia ahead of Augusto Fernandez, whilst Yamaha’s woes continued with Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo coming home in 12^th and 13^th respectively.

Takaaki Nakagami and Raul Fernandez secured the final two points on offer in Germany. Aleix Espargaro and Jonas Folger were the final riders to finish the race.

Brad Binder suffered a high-speed crash at turn eight on lap 19. The South African looked to be in some discomfort afterwards and was taken to the medical centre for a check-up. Fortunately, the Red Bull KTM team confirmed that Binder was ok.

Maverick Vinales retired from the race due to a mechanical problem with his factory Aprilia RS-GP.

The MotoGP paddocks heads straight to Assen for round eight of the 2023 season next weekend.

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Jorge Martin dominated at the Sachsenring to secure his second MotoGP sprint race victory in the last three races.

The Pramac Racing racer made a fantastic double move on Pecco Bagnaia and Jack Miller on the run down the waterfall. Managing to hold position despite running a little wide, Martin pulled the pin instantly.

Within a couple of laps, Martin had opened up a gap of over a second, eventually crossed the line with an advantage of 2.468s. Martin moves to within 21 points of championship leader Bagnaia, who came home in second spot.

Jack Miller completed the podium for Red Bull KTM. It’s the Australian’s second sprint race podium of the season.

Behind him, there was a fantastic battle for fourth between Luca Marini, Brad Binder and Johann Zarco. Binder tried everything in his arsenal to try and get the better of Marini, but was unable to make a move stick on the Mooney VR46 Racing Ducati man.

He was made to pay by Zarco, who pulled a controversial move on Binder on the final lap. The Frenchman shoved his Pramac Racing Ducati down the inside of Binder through the fast turn 11, at the top of the waterfall, hitting the KTM rider in the process.

The incident was immediately placed under investigation, but no further action was taken by the FIM stewarding panel.

Marco Bezzecchi crossed the line in seventh, whilst Alex Marquez and Aleix Espargaro secured the final points available in the sprint race. Enea Bastianini completed the top 10 on the second factory Ducati Desmocedici.

Marc Marquez’s problematic weekend continued in 11^th. The Repsol Honda rider crashed three times on Saturday morning, before enduring an uncompetitive, quiet race. Prior to the sprint race, Marquez had won his last 11 races at the Sachsenring.

Following Friday’s incident at turn one, which saw Marquez’s RC213V slam into Zarco at turn one, as well as video footage of Marquez swearing at his bike after a moment at turn 11, it looks like the relationship between rider and manufacturer is close to breaking point.

Fabio di Giannantonio finished 12^th ahead of the struggling Fabio Quartararo, who, like Marquez, is currently unable to challenge the Ducati and KTM riders. Augusto Fernandez and Franco Morbidelli crossed the line in 14^th and 15^th respectively.

Miguel Oliveira, Takaaki Nakagami and Raul Fernandez were the final three riders to finish the race.

Maverick Vinales crashed at the first corner on lap 12, whilst home hero Jonas Folger retired from the race with a bike problem.