Last-gasp victory for Martin over Bagnaia in thrilling German MotoGP race
The Astonishing Triumph of Martin at the Sachsenring
In a stunning turn of events, Jorge Martin emerged victorious not once but twice in the 2023 season. On Saturday, he triumphed at Sachsenring and proved that his rookie success was no fluke. Despite this being his first win since the Styrian GP in 2021, his exceptional performance marked him as a fierce contender for the championship title.
From pole position, Pecco Bagnaia couldn’t convert into a holeshot as Jack Miller took over on Turn 1 at the start. Unfortunately for Miller, a momentary lapse in concentration caused him to slip back to fourth place after losing momentum on Turn11’s change of direction.
This setback marked only the beginning of Miller’s decline throughout the grand prix race. He ultimately finished sixth at an impressive distance from victory -11.9 seconds behind Martin.
Martin managed to take away Bagnaia’s lead almost identically as he did during Saturday’s sprint race- utilizing his quick reflexes and speed down hill out of Turn11- sneaking past Ducati Team’s factory rider into Turn12 with ease and gaining significant ground right off lap four.
Bagnaia tried closing-in several times before finally making a move on lap21/30 into Turn12; however, Martin didn’t let up on chasing him down and repayed it by hitting front again through turn12 on lap24/30.
Throughout several laps thereafter they ran line astern coming close many times to make contact while exiting turns.Most notably,on penultimate tour,Bangaia made contact with rear wheel causing some loss of momentum that would prove crucial for Martins charge towards chequered flag which saw him keep Ducati’s first Win since 2008 at Sachsenring by staying in front of Bagnaia by a mere 0.064 seconds.
Johann Zarco, on his Pramac GP23, completed the all-Ducati podium having inherited third place from Brad Binder after he crashed out at Turn8 on lap19.Meanwhile VR46 Ducati duo Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini trailed him home while Jack Miller emerged as the top non-Ducati rider finishing sixth.
Alex Marquez finished seventh ahead of factory team Ducati rider Enea Bastianini and Gresini team-mate Fabio Di Giannantonio while Miguel Oliveira rounded out the top10 with RNF Aprilia. Augusto Fernandez was eleventh on Tech3 GASGAS ahead of Franco Morbidelli who beat Yamaha teammate Fabio Quartararo.
Quartararo ran into trouble early in the race fading to thirteenth position towards finish line after starting strong holding tenth spot initially; this can be attributed to running soft rear tire which cost him dearly.LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami was the only Honda racer present in this race finishing fourteenth.And lastly,RNF’s Raul Fernandez took up final point beating Aleix Espargaro struggling on his factory Aprilia that also ran a soft rear tyre.Tech3’s Jonas Folger concluded this event as final participant crossing over chequered flag whereas Maverick Vinales retired due to engine problem during laps eight