Jorge Martin holds off Bagnaia to win German MotoGP

Jorge Martin held off Francesco Bagnaia to win the thrilling German MotoGP and claw into the Italian’s lead in the standings.

The Pramac Ducati rider got off to a strong start from grid spot six, moving up to fourth before the field exited Turn 1. He quickly moved up to second after repeating the amazing double-overtake that won him the sprint race on Saturday after the leader Jack Miller made a mistake at Turn 11 and lost momentum.

Martin also passed Marini in an identical move at Turn 12. The Spaniard was not done yet as he pursued the new leader Bagnaia to overtake him at Turn 12 just a few laps later before attempting to take off just like he had done during Saturday’s Sprint.

Factory Ducati’s Bagnaia put pressure on Martin during the middle stage of the race as the pair began to distance themselves from KTM’s Brad Binder. With little under a third of the race remaining, Bagnaia ended up passing Martin at Turn 12.

However, Martin wouldn’t give up without a fight and remained firmly focused on his fellow Ducati rider who was ahead. Martin was able to retake the lead with a pass that was nearly identical to the one that was made on him just a few laps earlier, but things changed again as Bagnaia tried to compensate back for the previous pass.

The battle between the defending Martin and the reigning world champion hit an abrupt end when the former clipped the latter’s rear tyre on the final turn of the penultimate lap, costing him valuable time in his bid for a second consecutive victory. The reigning world champion had been clinging all over Martin’s rear during the course of the final few laps.

Martin ultimately got a good enough exit to just hang on to his second grand prix victory of his career by a razor-thin margin of 0.064s, despite the fact that Bagnaia managed to get close enough for an attack in the final two corners of the race and trying to undercut Martin once more as he went defensive into the final bend.

Johann Zarco earned his third consecutive third-place finish after Binder fell out at Turn 8 in the closing stages. The Frenchman led home an all-Ducati top five as VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini followed in behind.

Miller ended up finishing sixth for KTM, ahead of Gresini’s Alex Marquez in seventh, while all eight Ducatis made it into the top ten with Enea Bastianini and Fabio Di Gianantonio’s eighth and ninth-place finishes.

On his RNF-run Aprilia, Miguel Oliveira wrapped up the top ten after overcoming factory Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro close to the finish line. The Spaniard lacked rear grip as a result of choosing the soft compound rear tyre, in contrast to the majority of the riders.

Only Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo shared Espargaro’s struggles in the closing laps, and he ultimately finished 13th behind GasGas’ Augusto Fernandez and teammate Franco Morbidelli.

Takaaki Nakagami finished 14th for LCR and was the only Honda rider to start the German Grand Prix after Marc Marquez withdrew shortly before the race due to a fractured finger he suffered during morning warm-up. At the very end, Raul Fernandez stole the final point from a struggling Espargaro.

Espargaro’s 16th-place finish at the Sachsenring meant that neither factory Aprilia earned a point as Maverick Vinales was forced to withdraw due to a technical issue with his RS-GP after less than a third of the race.

Bezzecchi has now dropped to 34 points behind the series leader, leaving Bagnaia with just a 16-point championship lead over the surging Martin.

2023 GERMAN MOTOGP, SACHSENRING RACE RESULTS