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Bagnaia Wins German GP, Martin Crashes From the Lead as Marquez Brothers Take the Podium

Francesco Bagnaia won his 4th consecutive Grand Prix as Jorge Martin crashed out from the lead with just 2 laps remaining.

Francesco Bagnaia has taken his place atop the MotoGP standings at Sachsenring following a late crash from Jorge Martin that promoted the Italian into first. Marc Marquez also completed a strong comeback to take second place with brother Alex joining him in third.

On the opening lap of the race Miguel Oliveira would dive to the inside on Jorge Martin on the exit of Turn 1 from the front row of the grid, with the pair going side-by-side into Turn 2, Martin held the inside line and re-overtook Oliveira for the lead.

Francesco Bagnaia would dive up the inside of Martin into the final corner at the end of the second lap for the lead of the race, with Martin immediately attempting to disrupt the reigning champion’s momentum and flow, something which is imperative around the Sachsenring circuit.

Franco Morbidelli would start aggressively, making contact with Alex Marquez for fourth place in the early stages and later taking Oliveira for third, closing right onto the back of the leading duo of Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin.

Alex Marquez would overtake Oliveira in the high-speed section at Turn 10, the battle in the Top 10 almost exclusively between the Ducati and Aprilia riders. The Aprilia’s seemed to be able to turn into the corners much sharper than the Ducati’s, however, the Italian-manufactured bikes seemed to be more of the all-rounder and comfortable bike to ride.

Ducati Corse
Ducati Corse

Martin would eventually level Bagnaia on the brakes, making the move up the inside into Turn 1 as Morbidelli attempted to follow his teammate through. Maverick Vinales would run wide at Turn 8, almost falling off the Aprilia as he ran straight into the gravel. Just a lap later, and Morbidelli would make a bold dive up the inside of Bagnaia, taking second position and holding a Pramac 1-2 in the first third of the race.

Bagnaia was attempting to focus more on tyre conservation in the early stages, however being overtaken by Morbidelli and hounded by the Gresini Ducati of Alex Marquez, he was having to run his tyres a bit harder than he would have liked, effectively not saving as much as he wanted, and also needing to make moves on the circuit itself.

Fabio Di Giannantonio would have to end his race early after a technical issue on his VR46 Ducati, running just inside the Top 10, the VR46 Ducati riders would be the only Ducati’s that were struggling to even hold a Top 10 position, as the others were all running inside the top six.

The Pramac Ducati riders are using the Desmosedici GP23 for this season, and the bike adapted much better to corner entry and exit, compared to the Factory Ducati Desmosedici GP24 that Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini were using. Morbidelli would make a mistake in the early section of Lap 15, with Bagnaia able to close on his fellow Italian and eventually go up the inside into the penultimate corner.

Red Bull Content Pool
Gold and Goose

Marc Marquez would make his move on Oliveira for fifth at the halfway stage of the race, Marc Marquez has been previously unbeaten at the Sachsenring, in each race he has started across his career in Germany. His brother, Alex Marquez, would begin hounding the Pramac Ducati of Morbidelli, as the leading five closed to within a few seconds of each other, all at different levels of tyre life.

Alex Marquez would take third place from Morbidelli on Lap 17, a move up the inside at the penultimate corner put the Spaniard into the podium positions, as Morbidelli’s Pramac Ducati struggled for tyre grip. Just behind these riders, Bastianini would get past the Trackhouse Aprilia of Miguel Oliveira, the Aprilia’s sinking further through the field as the Ducati’s took the leading six places.

Martin would hold his lead over Bagnaia at just under one second with 10 laps remaining, the two championship contenders were separated by 15 points going into the Grand Prix after Martin extended his lead in the Sprint race on Saturday.

Morbidelli ran exceptionally wide into Turn 1 on Lap 22, cutting back across as Marc Marquez arrived on the apex, the pair made heavy contact as Marquez somehow managed to stay aboard his Ducati. Bastianini would then begin attacking Marquez at Turn 4, and the Italian on the inside would then run too hot into Turn 5’s tight left-hander, with Marquez just being able to stay in front.

Marquez would squeeze Morbidelli on the exit of the final corner on Lap 25, a familiar dive up the inside and squeeze to the outside of the corner would put Marc Marquez into fourth as he began hunting down his brother for the final podium place. Morbidelli and Bastianini would duel for position on Lap 26 and 27, the pair both levelling each other on the brakes at the final corner and first corner as they fought over fifth place.

Jorge Martin would crash out from the lead of the race on the penultimate lap at Turn 1, the bike sliding out from underneath him early into the corner, as Bagnaia inherited the lead of the race and the World Championship.

Marc Marquez would slide up the inside of his brother Alex on the penultimate lap, seizing second place in a weekend where he was not expecting to even make the podium places.

Francesco Bagnaia would come home to take the win from the Gresini Ducati riders and brothers of Marc and Alex Marquez, with Enea Bastianini taking fourth from Morbidelli, who finished fifth. The Marquez brothers becoming the first brothers to take the podium together for the first time since the Aoki brothers back in 1997.

Miguel Oliveira would finish in sixth as the top Aprilia for Trackhouse, as Pedro Acosta took seventh for Red Bull GasGas KTM, a quiet result for the young Spaniard, on a weekend where KTM have struggled. Marco Bezzecchi would finish in eighth for VR46, with Brad Binder and Raul Fernandez rounding out the Top 10.

Fabio Quartararo would finish once again as the top Yamaha in 11th, as Vinales recovered to 12th after running into the gravel early on. Jack Miller took a lonely 13th place for Red Bull Factory KTM as Augusto Fernandez finished 14th from Takaaki Nakagami, who finished as the Top Honda rider and took the final points position.

MotoGP German Grand Prix – Results

1st Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati
2nd Marc Marquez, Gresini Ducati
3rd Alex Marquez, Gresini Ducati
4th Enea Bastianini, Ducati
5th Franco Morbidelli, Pramac Ducati
6th Miguel Oliveira, Trackhouse Aprilia
7th Pedro Acosta, Red Bull GasGas KTM
8th Marco Bezzecchi, VR46 Ducati
9th Brad Binder, Red Bull Factory KTM
10th Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Aprilia
11th Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha
12th Maverick Vinales, Aprilia
13th Jack Miller, Red Bull Factory KTM
14th Augusto Fernandez, Red Bull GasGas KTM
15th Takaaki Nakagami, LCR Honda
16th Luca Marini, Repsol Honda
17th Johann Zarco, LCR Honda
18th Stefan Bradl, LCR Honda
19th Joan Mir, Repsol Honda
20th Remy Gardner, Yamaha
DNF Jorge Martin, Pramac Ducati
DNF Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Ducati

Featured Image – Red Bull Content Pool