The last five victories in MotoGP sprints and Grands Prix all went to Francesco Bagnaia. In Saturday’s sprint at the Sachsenring, Jorge Martin ended this series. He celebrated his first victory since Le Mans in mid-May. Second place went to the surprisingly strong Miguel Oliveira, while Bagnaia had to settle for third place. Marc Marquez fought his way up from 13th place on the grid to sixth place.
In the World Championship, Martin has increased his lead over Bagnaia to 15 points. Marc Marquez is in third place, 66 points behind, and Enea Bastianini is 70 points behind the World Championship leader.
MotoGP Sachsenring: The racing film in the sprint
The starting line-up: 1. Martin, 2. Oliveira, 3. R. Fernandez, 4. Bagnaia, 5. A. Marquez, 6. Morbidelli, 7. Vinales, 8. Di Giannantonio, 9. Bastianini, 10. Acosta, 11. Binder, 12. Bezzecchi, 13. M. Marquez, 14. Quartararo, 15. A. Fernandez, 16. Miller, 17. Nakagami, 18. Marini, 19. Zarco, 20. Mir, 21. Bradl, 22. Gardner
Begin: Miguel Oliveira gets off to a good start and sits on the inside lane next to pole sitter Jorge Martin in turn one. Oliveira goes a bit wide, however, taking Martin to the outside and allowing Francesco Bagnaia to slip through on the inside lane. Bagnaia leads ahead of Oliveira, Martin, Raul Fernandez and Vinales. Marc Marquez makes up two places from 13th place on the grid.
2nd round: Martin overtakes Oliveira in Turn 1 and is second.
3rd round: Martin also attacks Bagnaia in turn 1, but has to go wide and let Bagnaia pass again on the inside lane. In the fast turn eight, Martin finally pushes past Bagnaia with full force and takes the lead.
In the final corner, Bagnaia also has to let Oliveira pass and is now only third.
4th round: Marc Marquez is on the rise. He has already made it to eighth place.
6th round: Marc Marquez gains another position against Raul Fernandez – P7.
12th round: Pedro Acosta comes off the track in tenth place and falls to the back of the field.
15th and final round: Marc Marquez attacks Vinales in Turn 1, but goes wide. Vinales is able to counter. In the final corner, however, Marquez breaks through again and saves three thousandths of a second over the finish line.
Goal: Martin wins 0.676 seconds ahead of Oliveira. Bagnaia completes the podium. Bastianini is fourth, followed by Morbidelli. Marc Marquez saves sixth place from Vinales. The last points go to Binder and Alex Marquez.