Bagnaia wins fourth GP in a row as Martin crashes on penultimate lap

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) clinched victory at the German Grand Prix and with that the championship lead as Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) threw away the race win with a crash on the penultimate lap.

Bagnaia took the lead off pole-sitter Martin in the opening stages of the race, but had to relinquish the position to his title rival.

Martin immediately made a break for it from there and held a consistent gap of around eight tenths of a second over Bagnaia. However, disaster struck with one lap remaining lap as Martin’s front tyre folded at Turn 1 and he went down and out.

Bagnaia inherited the lead and brought it home for a fourth straight GP race win.

“It wasn’t easy,” the reigning world champion admitted. “I tried everything at the start to remain in first position, but then Jorge [Martin] and Franky [Morbidelli] overtook me. And I thought, okay, maybe they’re pushing too much; they would push in that moment and I was going to push in the last laps.

“I tried to keep the pressure on Martin and the last two or three laps I saw that he was starting to make some mistakes. When I saw him crash, I just slowed down a lot because it was very tricky, the front tyre was closing a bit.

“I’m very happy, fourth win in a row, it’s fantastic. It’s the first time I win at the Sachsenring, so it’s fantastic.”

Martin led the field at lights out from pole position, but Bagnaia was on it from the get-go. He made an overtake through the last corner stick on Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse Racing) on the opening lap and pulled the same manoeuvre on Martin a lap later to claim P1.

Meanwhile, Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) was the fastest rider on track in the early stages and swiftly made it a three-way battle at the front.

Martin stepped up his game and closed in on Bagnaia to pull alongside the factory Ducati down the start-finish straight and went down the inside at Turn 1 to regain the lead on Lap 7.

While Martin made a break for it at the front, Bagnaia also had to surrender to Morbidelli who made it a Pramac 1-2.

Morbidelli briefly gained some breathing space, but Bagnaia retaliated, reeled the gap back in and got an overtake done straight away to move back into second at the halfway stage of the race.

However, Martin had already edged out an advantage at the front and though Bagnaia kept his rival honest, around eight tenths of a second consistently separated them.

Bagnaia found an extra gear late in the race and started to take margins out of Martin. The pressure paid off for him on the penultimate lap when Martin lost the front at Turn 1 and went down.

Left in the lead, Bagnaia brought the position home to clinch a 10-point lead going into the summer break.

Behind, the fight for the remaining podium positions was open until the end.

While Morbidelli dropped pace in the second half of the race, Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) was coming into his own. The Spaniard made a move stick on Lap 17 and was immediately breaking away from the Pramac Ducati.

That was not the end of it though as Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) too was picking his was up the order and challenged Morbidelli.

The duo collided when Morbidelli ran wide at Turn 1 and found the Gresini Ducati in his way when rejoining the racing line. Despite the loss of momentum and briefly falling into the clutches of Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team), Marquez fought back and made a move on Morbidelli through the last corner stick on Lap 25.

From there, he went to hunt down his brother and found a way past with one lap to go.

“Thank you, Sachsenring, it was an amazing weekend,” Marc Marquez said in parc-ferme. “From FP1 we had a lot of problems, then we were a bit unlucky in Q1 with a mechanical problem plus traffic.

“But yesterday we had a consistent race and today we set up the electronics a bit differently and I felt better with the bike. I was step by step coming back.

“With that contact with Morbidelli, something clicked and I thought it was time for full attack.

“I’d trade a victory for being on the podium with my brother, it’s an amazing feeling. I’m super happy, happy for the team and now it’s time to enjoy it.”

Despite losing the position, Alex Marquez still found himself on the rostrum, courtesy of Martin’s crash, making it a double podium for Gresini and the first time a set of brothers shared a podium since 1997.

“It’s a super amazing Sunday here, I gave everything,” he said. “I knew our rhythm wasn’t as good as the front guys’, Pecco [Bagnaia] and Martin had a little bit more. I was expecting Oliveira to be a little faster today, but he was struggling from the beginning.

“So I did my own race and in the end with Martin’s crash we were on the podium and I said, okay, we need to stay, we need to bring this home.

“I’m so happy for the team because they are working really hard. When we are struggling, they keep working.”

Bastianini once again proved his late-race pace in fourth, beating Morbidelli to the position.

Oliveira was sixth ahead of Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) and Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) while Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing) rounded out the top 10.

Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team) took the chequered flag in 11th from Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing) and Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing). Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) was 14th while Takaaki Nakagami (IDEMITSU Honda LCR) bagged the final point on offer in 15th.

Pretty much everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong for Marquez at what is usually one of his happiest hunting grounds this weekend.

From the massive highside in practice that left him with a fractured finger and a bruised rib cage, to misfortune in qualifying that saw him start down in P13, the odds were certainly not stacked in his favour.

Still, Marquez never gave up and delivered an excellent race to a runner-up finish, leading a sensational double podium for Gresini alongside his brother Alex who also deserves a Rider of the Day honourable mention.

After a horrendous start to the German Grand Prix, what a way to finish it.

1/30: MARTIN TAKES HOLESHOT – The pole-sitter holds on to P1 and resists pressure from Oliveira. Bagnaia slots into third.

2/30: BAGNAIA INTO SECOND – Martin threatens to escape and Bagnaia reacts. He sends it down the inside at the final corner and prevails down start/finish to take P2 off Oliveira into Turn 1.

2/30: BAGNAIA HITS THE FRONT- Bagnaia makes the last corner work for him and dives past Martin to take the lead.

7/30: MARTIN REGAINS THE LEAD – Fastest lap from Martin and he pulls alongside the factory Ducati down start/finish to dive down the inside at Turn 1 and claim the lead.

9/30: MORBIDELLI INTO SECOND – And there’s the move from Morbidelli who takes second off Bagnaia and makes it a Pramac 1-2.

15/30: FIGHT FOR SECOND – Some sectors from Bagnaia who catches Morbidelli and gets an overtake done quickly. More than a second separates him from Martin though.

17/30: FIGHT FOR THIRD – A Marquez now makes a move on Morbidelli stick. Things might yet get worse for the Italian with M Marquez right behind him.

25/30: MARQUEZ INTO FOURTH – And there’s a move from M Marquez who claims Morbidelli through the last corner and moves into fourth.

29/30: MARTIN DOWN – Martin’s front tyre folds at Turn 1 and the race leader goes down.

29/30: MARQUEZ V MARQUEZ – M Marquez has closed in on A Marquez and swiftly makes a move stick. Both Gresini riders are on the podium with Martin out of the race.

30/30: BAGNAIA WINS IN GERMANY – Bagnaia brings the inherited lead home to win in Germany. M Marquez stays ahead of A Marquez who make it a double podium for Gresini.