Martin escapes Bagnaia & Miller for statement Sachsenring Sprint win
The number 89 continues his roll to defeat the reigning Champion, with Miller putting KTM back on the rostrum as Marc Marquez suffers a tough Tissot Sprint.
Sachsenring (Germany), June 17, 2023: Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) is becoming a Tissot Sprint master in 2023, making it two wins in the last three on a Saturday afternoon after more glory at the Liqui Moly Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, the round 7 of the World Motorcycle Championship.
The Spaniard beat World Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) by 2.4s and in doing so, Martin moves up to second overall, with Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) completing the rostrum.
A barnstorming start
Miller got a rocket ship launch on the KTM RC16 once again, he had the inside line for Turn 1 but Bagnaia hung it around the outside to hit the front at Turn 2. Miller tried to make a move stick at Turn 8 but that didn’t work, and Martin then made his way through on Miller down at Turn 12.
On Lap 2 at Turn 1 though, Bagnaia and Martin were wide and that allowed Miller to move back through to the lead. Then it tightened up again, with lead group of five formed as Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) joined the party.
Meanwhile, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) wasn’t enjoying his early Sprint laps, the King of the Ring down to P9 on Lap 5, and that despite having made a good start.
Back at the front, it had become a top seven as Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) and Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) joined the breathless action, and Martin was on the move back into the lead too as he grabbed P1 with a beautiful double overtake down the Waterfall as the two ahead shuffled.
Pin pulled
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. Another fastest lap of the Sprint came in from Martin with nine laps to go, and the gap was up to 1.1s. A lap later it was 1.3s. it seemed Bagnaia didn’t have an answer and barring any drama, the top three looked like they were set for the Sprint: Martin led Bagnaia by 1.4s, and the latter 0.8s clear of Miller.
The Aussie was, in turn, 1.4s ahead of Marini, but the battle for P4 was alive and kicking as Marini had Binder and Zarco right on his coattails. The three-way tussle was fascinating as twice Binder tried to find a way through on Marini at Turn 1, but both times the South African was slightly wide.
As Martin crossed the line for another stunning Sprint win and Bagnaia and Miller secured their visits to the rostrum, the battle was hotting up. At Turn 11, the rapid right-hander, Zarco pounced on Binder and the South African was sent wide, losing some ground as the Frenchman disappeared up the road to take that fifth place. It was investigated but no further action taken…
Marini held onto P4 ahead of Zarco and Binder 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 disappointing Sprint on a circuit he’s been unbeatable at. He said after the race that risk vs reward saw him roll off.
Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) crashed unhurt at Turn 1, with Jonas Folger (GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3) retiring from his home GP Sprint.aBa
