Martin pips Bagnaia and Oliveira to win German MotoGP Sprint

Jorge Martin overcame a slow start to win German MotoGP Sprint at the Sachsenring extending his points lead against title rival Bagnaia.

Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin secured victory at the German MotoGP Sprint after overcoming Miguel Oliveira – who led Trackhouse to claim its first podium – and Francesco Bagnaia in the early laps.

It marked Martin’s first win since the French MotoGP and snapped a streak of five successive wins for Bagnaia, who now sits 15 points behind the championship leader.

The championship leader qualified on pole position at the Sachsenring and, while he lost the early lead, he needed only three laps to reclaim the lead and proceeded to win unchallenged.

Bagnaia grabbed the lead at the outset with a storming start from fourth to first after Oliveira and Martin battled at Turn 1. Behind, Maverick Vinales climbed two spots from his starting position, but all action was centered at the front as Martin passed Oliveira at Turn 1 to take second.

Martin attempted a similar pass on Bagnaia on the next lap before completing an overtake through Turn 8/9 to take the lead. Oliveira followed suit to move back into second position down the hill, demoting Bagnaia to third and his team-mate was also queuing up behind to get on the podium.

Marquez’s 13th place on the grid saw him rise up to eighth inside the first five laps, but pursuing a win was out of the equation as Martin stormed clear out in the lead. The Gresini Ducati rider dispatched Raul Fernandez at the last turn on Lap 6 to gain another place, but he failed to bridge the deficit to Vinales ahead in the closing laps.

Franco Morbidelli rose to fifth with a late brake move on Vinales into Turn 1, as the Italian displayed his ability following a turbulent recovery period from injuries.

Martin expanded the gap between himself and the Aprilia of Oliveira to a second throughout the race, with Bagnaia’s final spot on the podium appearing precarious in the last few laps.

However, the race claimed its first victim after Pedro Acosta crashed his GasGas KTM in the third to last lap while lying just outside the point-scoring positions.

Marquez pulled off a last lap last corner overtake on Vinales to claim sixth place. Reigning champion Bagnaia settled for third position and held on to the last podium spot following late pressure from his teammate Enea Bastianini.

Morbidelli delivered Pramac a strong fifth-placed finish, ahead of Gresini’s Marquez who caught Vinales napping in the final corner.

Brad Binder finished eighth for the KTM outfit despite its lack of competitiveness around the German track, with Alex Marquez unable to muster a last-lap overtake like his brother.

Meanwhile, Jack Miller was sandwiched between both VR46 Ducatis, with Marco Bezzecchi rounding off the top ten positions. His teammate Fabio Di Gianantonio lost eight positions at the start which saw him 15th, before recovering to 12th in the 15-lap race.

Fabio Quartararo provided Yamaha with a respectable 13th, but Raul Fernandez fell 15 seconds adrift of his team-mate to finish a surprising 14th given his front row qualification.

Luca Marini finished as lead Honda rider ahead of GasGas rider Augusto Fernandez, before the LCR Honda duo of Johann Zarco and Taakaki Nakgami finished their Sprint race in 17th and 18th.

Stefan Bradl finished three seconds adrift of Nakagami, but finished three seconds clear of Yamaha’s Remy Gardner and full-time Honda rider Joan Mir while Acosta’s crash saw him last.

2024 German MotoGP Sprint Race Results