MotoGP German GP: Martin snatches win from Bagnaia on the line

A sprint winner twice in 2023, including on Saturday at the Sachsenring, Martin hasn’t won a grand prix since the 2021 Styrian GP in his rookie season.

But he ended that drought in brilliant fashion, resisting immense pressure from reigning world champion Bagnaia to beat him by just 0.064 seconds.

It has marked him out as a serious title contender now, as the Spaniard moves to 16 points adrift of Bagnaia.

Bagnaia couldn’t convert pole to the holeshot as KTM’s Jack Miller rocketed through on the run to Turn 1 at the start.

A moment for Miller on the change of direction into Turn 11 sapped his momentum down the hill and allowed Bagnaia to blast into the lead, with the KTM rider slipping back to fourth.

This would be the beginning of Miller’s decline in the grand prix as he ultimately faded to sixth at the chequered flag, 11.9s off the win.

Martin took the lead away from Bagnaia in almost identical fashion to how he did in Saturday’s sprint, nailing his run down the hill out of Turn 11 to scythe past the factory team Ducati into Turn 12.

Instantly, Martin pulled the pin and was six tenths clear come the end of lap four.

Bagnaia was able to stabilise this gap and closed in on several occasions, before making a move on lap 21 of 30 into Turn 12.

Martin didn’t give up the chase, however, and on lap 24 repaid the favour at the same corner to hit the front again.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

The pair ran line astern over the next few tours, Bagnaia and Martin coming close to contact on the exit of Turn 11 as the former looked to retake the lead.

At the final corner on the penultimate tour, Bagnaia did make contact with the rear of Martin’s Pramac-run GP23. He stayed mounted, but lost some momentum.

This would prove crucial for Martin’s charge to the chequered flag on the last lap as Bagnaia could find no way through.

Martin ran defensively into the final corner, which allowed Bagnaia to take a tighter line to try and outdrag him up the hill to the chequered flag.

Though Bagnaia was able to pull alongside Martin, the Pramac rider kept 0.064s in front to score Ducati’s first win at the Sachsenring since 2008.

Johann Zarco completed the all-Ducati podium on his Pramac GP23 having inherited third from KTM’s Brad Binder when he crashed out on lap 19 going through the fast Turn 8.

The VR46 Ducati duo of Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini trailed him home, with Miller the top non-Ducati rider in sixth.

Alex Marquez was seventh on his Gresini Ducati ahead of factory team Ducati rider Enea Bastianini and Gresini team-mate Fabio Di Giannantonio, while Miguel Oliveira rounded out the top 10 on his RNF Aprilia.

Augusto Fernandez was 11th on the Tech3 GASGAS ahead of Franco Morbidelli, who beat Yamaha team-mate Fabio Quartararo.

Quartararo was one of only two riders to run the soft rear tyre and paid dearly for it, fading from 10th in the early stages to 13th ahead of the only Honda in the race in LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami.

The final point went to RNF’s Raul Fernandez, who beat the struggling Aleix Espargaro on the factory Aprilia who also ran the soft rear tyre.

Tech3’s Jonas Folger was the final rider to get to the chequered flag, as Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales retired on lap eight with an engine problem.

Prior to Sunday’s German GP, Marc Marquez withdrew from the race following a fifth crash of the weekend in the morning warm-up session.

Cla	Rider		Bike	Gap
1	Jorge Martin		Ducati
2	Francesco Bagnaia		Ducati	0.064
3	Johann Zarco		Ducati	7.013
4	Marco Bezzecchi		Ducati	8.430
5	Luca Marini		Ducati	11.679
6	Jack Miller		KTM	11.904
7	Alex Marquez		Ducati	14.040
8	Enea Bastianini		Ducati	14.859
9	Fabio Di Giannantonio		Ducati	17.061
10	Miguel Oliveira		Aprilia	19.648
11	Augusto Fernandez		KTM	19.997
12	Franco Morbidelli		Yamaha	22.949
13	Fabio Quartararo		Yamaha	25.117
14	Takaaki Nakagami		Honda	25.327
15	Raúl Fernández		Aprilia	25.503
16	Aleix Espargaro		Aprilia	28.543
17	Jonas Folger		KTM	48.962
	Brad Binder		KTM	12 Laps
	Maverick Viñales		Aprilia	22 Laps
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