Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1523663
Binder and Alex Marquez bat- tled to the line for the final Sprint points at the Sachsenring, Binder getting the place by a tenth and a half. Marco Bezzecchi (Pertam- ina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) completed the top 10. SUNDAY MOTOGP RACE Francesco Bagnaia emerged victorious after the relentless pressure he piled on Jorge Martin finally saw the Spaniard crack with two laps left. Martin maintained a half-sec - ond lead as the final laps At the start, Oliveira briefly led into turn one, but Bagnaia swiftly moved inside both Oliveira and Martin, dropping the polesitter to third. Martin quickly reclaimed second place on lap two. Mean- while, Marc Marquez, starting from 13th, made a strong start, joining his brother, Alex, (Gresini Racing MotoGP) in the battle for ninth. On lap three, Martin executed a similar move at turn one on Bagnaia but ran wide, allowing Bagnaia to retake the lead. The two locked horns, with Martin eventually overtaking Bagnaia, and Oliveira passing the reigning World Champion at the final corner. Marc Marquez continued his charge, overtaking Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) for eighth and setting his sights on Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing), who began to struggle. At the front, the leading trio maintained their positions, with Martin extending his lead to over one second by lap 12 as Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) closed in, having shaken off Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) and Vinales. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull Gas - Gas Tech3) experienced a trip through the gravel, rejoining the race and finishing 22nd and last. On the final lap, Martin main- tained enough of a gap to hold off Oliveira, who secured some historic silverware for Track- house. Bagnaia managed to fend off Bastianini to secure third, en- suring Martin's win only extended his championship lead by five points. Bastianini finished fourth, with Morbidelli taking fifth, one of his best finishes of the year. MOTOGP SPRINT RACE Martin converted his pole posi- tion into a Sprint race win at the Sachsenring, which extended his championship lead to 15 points. Despite a sluggish start, Martin battled back to finish 0.676 of a second ahead of Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse Racing), who took Trackhouse Racing's first podium finish in a Sprint race or Sunday Grand Prix. Bagnaia completed the Sprint podium, mitigating some dam - age in the championship stand- ings. A notable duel between Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing) ended in a photo finish for sixth place. VOLUME ISSUE JULY , P87 happy, and now we relax and arrive in Silverstone with a good injection of confidence from the last few races." 88 MIGUEL OLIVEIRA 2ND/6TH MOTOGP "It was a great weekend, for sure. We managed very competitive lap times, had very competitive finishes, both in the qualifying and the Sprint," Miquel Oliveira said on Sunday evening. "Today was the first real challenge, in the long race, that I faced during the weekend. We just didn't have enough for the front-runners today—they were on a different pace and different grip levels. It's a shame I couldn't chal- lenge for more because, during the weekend, I was riding good, quite smooth, managing the tires very well, but I just didn't have enough today." MYOWNRACE