Martin prevails in German Ducati duel
Jorge Martin has announced himself as a championship contender after beating Francesco Bagnaia in a thrilling Ducati duel in Germany.
The first German Grand Prix in 11 years not to be won by Marc Marquez was an instant classic with Martin edging out Bagnaia by just 0.064s.
Their race-long fight went down to the final corner where Bagnaia launched a late counterattack, only for the Pramac Ducati rider to fend off the factory star.
It was a two-horse race with Johann Zarco a further 7s back in third, while Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini ensured Ducati filled the top five.
The top non Ducati was Australia’s Jack Miller, who led the first lap, but lost momentum and was relegated to sixth.
Martin’s earlier Sprint success and first Grand Prix win since the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix has vaulted him into championship contention.
He now sits just 16 points behind Bagnaia while Bezzecchi is a further 18 back.
The action started before the green flag as the man who had won the previous 11 German Grand Prix, Marc Marquez withdrew on race morning after crashing five times across the weekend.
When racing began, for the second successive start Miller soared in front of the two Ducatis as the field clearly negotiated the twisty opening sequence of corners.
The Aussie initially gapped the field, but got swallowed up down the straight as he struggled to get the KTM going out of Turn 11 and slipped from first to fourth.
It was then a Ducati 1-2-3 with Bagnaia leading Martin and Marini.
The #1 was in P1 for two laps until Martin took the lead on the same piece of track where Miller lost it.
Much like the Sprint, Martin quickly built a solid advantage over Bagnaia, while Miller struggled to maintain the pace of the front runners and lost ground to seventh.
Meanwhile his KTM teammate Binder was on the move and passed Marini for third on the entry to Turn 12, a piece of track where the Ducatis have usually owned.
With Marini continuing to drop down the order to outside the top five, it soon became clear the #10 VR46 Ducati was not at 100 percent.
The race had settled down until Lap 19 when Binder crashed out from third.
The South African struggled to control the front of his KTM on entry to high speed Turn 8, ran wide and could not save by the time he hit the gravel.
Despite Martin being in control, Bagnaia started to reel him in inside the final third of the race.
On Lap 21 Bagnaia seized his moment and bolted down the inside at Turn 12 after getting a good run down the back straight.
Martin tried to fight back when they crossed the line, but the factory Ducati rider kept him at bay.
Bagnaia only led for three laps with Martin pulling off a repeat move to set up a grandstand finish over the final four laps.
The leaders almost came together coming down the hill, but came out the other side.
At the start of the penultimate lap Martin went on the defence and by the end of the lap they touched, with Bagnaia making front to rear contact at the final corner.
The moment gave Martin just enough breathing space to secure a thrilling win.
Image: Gold and Goose
2023 German Grand Prix results
| POS | # | RIDER | GAP |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
89
|
J. MARTIN
|
40:52.449
|
|
2
|
1
|
F. BAGNAIA
|
+0.064
|
|
3
|
5
|
J. ZARCO
|
+7.013
|
|
4
|
72
|
M. BEZZECCHI
|
+8.430
|
|
5
|
10
|
L. MARINI
|
+11.679
|
|
6
|
43
|
J. MILLER
|
+11.904
|
|
7
|
73
|
A. MARQUEZ
|
+14.040
|
|
8
|
23
|
E. BASTIANINI
|
+14.859
|
|
9
|
49
|
F. DI GIANNANTONIO
|
+17.061
|
|
10
|
88
|
M. OLIVEIRA
|
+19.648
|
MotoGP championship points
Bagnaia 160 points
Martin 144
Bezzecchi 126
Zarco 109
