He was the favourite coming into the weekend and lived up to the billing all day on Saturday; pole position converted, another Sachsenring success story for Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) as the #93 took victory in the Sprint. Lights to flag is one half but there was pressure applied throughout the 15-lap encounter from Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) who finished second and third respectively.
LIGHTS OUT: Marquez 1-2 out the traps
Lights out, holeshot bagged: Marc Marquez got the job done to lead ahead of his brother into Turn 1. Behind, a fast start from Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP) saw him move up into third but by the end of the opening lap, Di Giannantonio had got himself ahead. Further back, Championship leader Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) was up into sixth from his P8 grid slot, whilst Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was battling with Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) for P8 and P9.
Approaching half distance, there was a crash for Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), ending his Sprint early. Back at the front and having been nose to tail, the top three had started spreading out with Marc Marquez able to put half a second into his younger brother. ‘Diggia’ was a further six tenths back by the end of Lap 9 as the #93 got into his groove and started to break clear of those chasing in the early stages.
LATE PRESSURE: Alex Marquez and Diggia dig deep
It wasn’t all done just yet though; Alex Marquez was digging in and the gap to his reigning World Champion brother was down to 0.337s going into the final three and a half laps. Di Giannantonio was also closing back in on the brothers, was there something still left for the very end of the Sprint? The Italian was climbing all over the back of the #73 with just two laps to go and had set himself up for a final lap attack.
However, it wasn’t to be; Marc Marquez made it back-to-back Sachsenring Sprint wins whilst brother Alex Marquez took second, resisting Di Giannantonio’s late pace. The Italian closes in on the Championship lead though, just 13 points away from leading into the summer holidays and just two behind second overall.
IN THE POINTS: Championship complex changes behind
2.2s behind the podium battle, Ogura was fourth ahead of teammate Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) and Championship leader Martin, who’s advantage extends to 11 ahead of his absent teammate Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing). Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) secured seventh whereas behind, it was Acosta who won out ahead of Quartararo for eighth place. Just missing a Sprint point, Brazilian star Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) came home for top Honda honours in tenth.
Full Sprint results from the Sachsenring!