Martín back on top in MotoGP sprint! Oliveira shocks with second place in Germany

The imaginary last race of the opening half of the MotoGP season takes place at the Sachsenring in Germany. Saturday’s traditional sprint, a taster of Sunday’s main race, was dominated by the king of the sprint era, Jorge Martín. The Spaniard’s main rival for the World Championship title, Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia, finished third behind the weekend’s pleasant surprise, Miguel Oliveira on the satellite Aprilia.

• Jorge Martín triumphed in Saturday’s sprint at the Sachsering in Germany
• Second place was surprisingly scored by Miguel Oliveira on a satellite Aprilia
• Reigning champion Pecco Bagnaia limited the damage with third place

The World Road Motorcycle Championship has moved from Assen to the Sachsenring, which hosts the ninth round of the season. The Dutch-German doubleheader was preceded by a four-week spring break, and will be followed by a break of the same length. The results and the form of the championship leaders are therefore crucial in terms of their mental state ahead of the next break.

World Championship leaders Jorge Martín and Pecco Bagnaia once again showed solid form to record pole position and fourth place respectively in Saturday morning’s qualifying. However, the Trackhouse Racing duo, the Aprilia satellite team of Miguel Oliveira and Raúl Fernández, slipped in between the pair in shocking fashion. On the other hand, eleven-time German VC winner Marc Márquez suffered a big crash in Friday’s practice session. His injured finger and ribs eventually limited him to thirteenth place on the grid.

Bagnaia thanks the brave Oliveira, but Martín quickly takes the lead

With Bagnaia and Márquez qualifying at least one row behind Martín, the championship leader was able to concentrate fully on scoring the full twelve points. However, the previous speed of Oliveira in particular could not eliminate the Portuguese from a possible fight for an incredible result at all.

The push off the grid and the charge into the first corner of the fifteen-lap sprint confirmed it. Oliveira felt hopeful of a return to the absolute top and attacked Martín on the opening braking. However, the 29-year-old winner of five MotoGP Grands Prix himself went off the track and pushed Martín off it too. This was exploited by Bagnaia, who squeezed under his rivals to take the sprint lead from fourth position at the start.

Slightly further back, Marc Márquez started to work his way through the field. From thirteenth on the grid, he gained three positions in the opening corners to enter the door welcoming him into a top-10 position. At the front, however, in the early minutes of the sprint it looked as if Martín and Bagnaia would split the lead, just as they did last year. The Pramac Ducati rider got the better of Oliveira on the second lap, and in the one that followed, he beat the leader Bagnaiu. However, this was preceded by an unsuccessful manoeuvre into the first corner, which the Italian managed to block.

However, only half the staff in the Trackhouse garage could celebrate, to put it bluntly. Fellow driver Oliveira Fernandez was unable to keep up with the leading drivers and lost ground to Maverick Viñales and Franco Morbidelli over the next few laps. By the fourth lap, the young Spaniard was already circling up to seventh place, while Oliveira humbled Bagnaia and bravely defended his position on the small podium.

Bastianini joins the party, Márquez limits the damage

Behind the leading group of seven, Márquez manoeuvred his way into the lead of the chasing group by taking on Brad Binder. It happened on lap five and it didn’t take long for the eight-time champion to get the better of the struggling Fernandez. At the front, however, things stabilized. Martín was able to break away from the pressure of Oliveira, who in turn faced a possible lunge from Bagnaii. Enea Bastianini, whose unbeatable pace at the end of the race promised some interesting action in the final laps of the sprint, caught the back of the leading group.

But if it hadn’t been for Bagnaii’s teammate riding ahead of him, Bastianini might have been much more aggressive with his use of the last remaining strength in his tyres. While Bagnaia would have been able to get ahead of Oliveira on a smoother track, the reigning world champion found no loophole to get into second position.

In the second half of the race, it finally gave the feeling that Bagnaia didn’t want to take any more risks. Bastianini took the same decision and although he was dangerously closing in on his teammate in some sections of the circuit, any manoeuvre in the front group never happened again. What’s more, Martín jumped more than one second from the rest of the field, allowing no further drama.

The final part of Saturday’s sprint at the Sachsenring thus belonged more to Márquez’s comeback. At the moment the 31-year-old Spaniard closed in on the duo of Morbidelli and Viñales, series newcomer Pedro Acosta was found by the cameras coming through the gravel zone. Whether it was a mistake or a technical race issue, the 20-year-old GasGas rider dropped to last place.

Márquez still managed to pass Viñales on the fifteenth lap of fifteen by maneuvering into the very last corner. At the finish line, however, they were separated by just three thousandths of a second. Márquez thus saved at least sixth place behind the five of Martín, Oliveira, Bagnaia, Bastianini and Morbidelli. Fernández, starting from the front row, finished 14th in the final standings.

Results of the MotoGP German Grand Prix sprint (15 laps = 55.065 km; top 10 only):

1. Jorge Martín (Sp., Ducati) 20:18.904
2. Miguel Oliveira (Por., Aprilia) +0.676
3. Francesco Bagnaia (Ita., Ducati) +1.311
4. Enea Bastianini (Ita., Ducati) +1.458
5. Franco Morbidelli (Ita., Ducati) +5.600
6. Marc Márquez (Span., Ducati) +6.281
7. Maverick Viñales (Span., Aprilia) +6.284
8. Brad Binder (RJA, KTM) +9.061
9. Álex Márquez (Span., Ducati) +9.201
10. Marco Bezzecchi (Ita., Ducati) +10.800

2024 MotoGP rider standings (top 10 only):

1. Jorge Martín (Spa., Ducati) 212 points
2. Francesco Bagnaia (Ita., Ducati) 197
3. Marc Márquez (Spa., Ducati) 146
4. Enea Bastianini (Ita., Ducati) 142
5. Maverick Viñales (Span., Aprilia) 121
6. Pedro Acosta (Span., KTM) 101
7. Brad Binder (RJA, KTM) 101
8. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ita., Ducati) 92
9. Aleix Espargaró (Span., Aprilia) 82
10. Álex Márquez (Span., Ducati) 63

Sources