Martin beats Bagnaia for Sachsenring Sprint glory

Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) is becoming a Tissot Sprint master in 2023 after making it two wins in the last three on a Saturday afternoon at the Liqui Moly Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland. The Spaniard beat World Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) by 2.4s as Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) completed the rostrum.

A barnstorming start

As expected Miller got a rocket ship launch on the KTM RC16 machine and had the inside line for Turn 1, but Bagnaia hung it around the outside to grab P1 at Turn 2. Miller tried to make a move stick at Turn 8 but that didn’t work, as Martin made his way through on Miller down at Turn 12. On Lap 2 at Turn 1, Bagnaia and Martin were wide and that allowed Miller to move on through into the lead, as a lead group of five formed with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) joining Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) and the aforementioned trio.

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) wasn’t enjoying his early Sprint laps, the King of the Ring was down to P9 on Lap 5 as a top seven formed at the front. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) and Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) joined the breathless action, as Martin grabbed P1 with a beautiful double overtake down the Waterfall. Lap 6 ticked by and Martin was asking big questions – a 1:20.990 saw the Spaniard sit eight tenths clear of Bagnaia, who had also now overtaken Miller.

Pin pulled

Another fastest lap of the Sprint came in for Martin with nine laps to go. The gap was up to 1.1s. A lap later it was 1.3s. At this stage of the Sprint, Bagnaia didn’t have an answer for Martin. Baring any drama, the top three looked like they were set for the Sprint with Martin leading Bagnaia by 1.4s, the latter 0.8s clear of Miller who in turn was 1.4s ahead of Marini. The battle for P4 was alive and kicking though, Marini had Binder and Zarco right on his coattails.

Marini vs Binder vs Zarco was fascinating. Twice Binder tried to find a way through on Marini at Turn 1, but both times the South African was slightly wide. Heading onto the last lap, Martin was 2.4s clear of Bagnaia with Miller a further 0.8s down the road.

At Turn 11, the rapid right-hander, Zarco slammed his GP23 up the inside of Binder’s RC16 to make a harsh but fair move stick on the #33. Further up the road though, Martin crossed the line to claim another Sprint victory. 2.4s was the winning margin over Bagnaia, with Miller crossing the line third.

Marini held onto P4, Zarco’s last lap pass demoted Binder to P6, as Bezzecchi, Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) completed the points scorers in P7, P8 and P9. Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) rounded out the top 10, with Marc Marquez dropping from P7 to P11 in a very disappointing Sprint on a circuit he’s been unbeatable at.

Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) crashed unhurt at Turn 1, with Jonas Folger (GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3) retiring from his home GP Sprint.

Next: Grand Prix Sunday

21 points split the top duo in the Championship ahead of Grand Prix Sunday at the Sachsenring – those two riders are Bagnaia and Martin. Tune into the MotoGP™ race at 14:00 local time (GMT+2)!

Top 10:
1. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing)
2. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 2.468
3. Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 3.287
4. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 5.487
5. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) + 5.538
6. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 6.289
7. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 6.956
8. Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) + 9.261
9. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) + 9.691
10. Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 9.715

FULL RESULTS!