Martin reigns supreme over Bagnaia in German MotoGP thriller

A five-point deficit was hardly a fair punishment for just six hundredths of a second, but that’s what reigning world champion Pecco Bagnaia had to swallow after a race-long battle with Prima Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin at the 2023 German Grand Prix.

Fresh from his third-place finish in the Sprint, it was the fast-starting Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM) who nabbed the holeshot, but a mistake on lap three quickly relegated the Aussie to fourth as the chasing Ducatis of Bagnaia, Martin and Luca Marini (Mooney VR46) pounced. And as they crossed the line to start the fourth lap, it was Sprint winner Martin in control, looking to take maximum points after surpassing Marco Bezzechi (Mooney VR46) for second in the title chase on Saturday.

Seeing the strength of the three Ducatis ahead, Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) nabbed fourth from his teammate on lap four, while Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Ducati) got through on the fading Aussie two laps later. Bezzechi was making important ground further back, passing Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) on lap five and Aleix Espargaro (Team Aprilia) on lap six to move into seventh.

Unlike Saturday’s sprint race, Martin wasn’t able to break the resolve of Bagnaia who stayed within striking distance, biding his time and examining the strengths and weaknesses of Martin ahead. Binder eventually found a way past Marini to get himself into the podium positions, with Zarco also taking a place off the Italian on the 12th lap.

Like he has done so many times before this season, Bagnaia made his move with 10 laps to go, passing the Spaniard to take the lead of the 30-lap race. And while it looked as if he played his cards perfectly, Martin was having none of it and shadowed the Italian for the next three laps as the pair found themselves five seconds clear of Zarco, after Binder suffered a heavy crash out of third place. Bezzechi, having disposed of Miller on lap 10 and his teammate on lap 18, was a further 1.4 seconds back in fourth.

On lap 24, Martin forced his way back past Bagnaia at Turn 11 but the Italian once again stayed with him, desperately looking for a place to get by the Spaniard on a track that’s notoriously difficult to pass on. It was still Martin with the advantage with five to go, as the two Ducati teams held their breath as the pair remained in a close combat that had all the hallmarks of the Bagnaia/Bastianini battles of last season.

Bagnaia took a wider line to get better drive down the start/finish straight as they completed the penultimate lap, but a defensive line from Martin meant Bagnaia’s front brake disc touched Martin’s rear wheel, costing the reigning world champ all important momentum. And while he was never really close enough to make a lunge on the Spaniard throughout the final lap, the run to the line was his last chance, missing out by just 0.064sec.

For the third consecutive time, Zarco completed the full-length Grand Prix podium, albeit seven seconds adrift, making it the fourth all-Ducati podium of the 2023 MotoGP season. Last time out in Mugello was the first time that Ducati locked out the top four spots in a GP, with that increasing to five at the Sachsenring. In fact, all eight Ducati’s finished in the top nine positions, with Miller the only non-Ducati in sixth place.

Yamaha’s woes continue, with Franco Morbidelli (Monster Yamaha) beating teammate Fabio Quartararo to 12th place, ahead of the only Honda rider left standing, Idemitsu LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami in 14th.

With both Joan Mir (Repsol Honda) and Alex Rins (LCR Honda) sidelined with injuries, Marc Marquez arrived at the Sachsenring with every intention of keeping his unbeaten record in tact at the German GP. However a crash-strewn weekend put paid to those hopes, with a fifth crash in morning warm-up sidelining the once-dominant Spaniard as Honda’s struggles continue.

Bagnaia’s (160 points) championship lead is reduced to 16 points over Martin (144) with Bezzechi (126) slipping back. Zarco (109) moves up into fourth ahead of Binder (96), as the series kicks off again in Assen in just five days’ time.