HOHENSTEIN-ERNSTTHAL, Germany (Reuters) – Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin scorched to his second sprint win of the MotoGP season at the German Grand Prix on Saturday to move up to second in the world championship standings, while Ducati’s world champion Francesco Bagnaia finished second.
Martin took the chequered flag 2.468 seconds ahead of Bagnaia, denying the Italian a fourth sprint win of the season. Red Bull KTM’s Jack Miller finished third.
Bagnaia started well after taking pole earlier on Saturday, but was drawn into an early battle with Miller, with Martin taking advantage of the pair’s tussle to sneak into the lead.
Martin, who started on the second row, quickly moved up with a fastest lap early on and by the end of the fourth lap the charging Spaniard had taken the lead.
There was no stopping him once he had clear roads ahead of him as he turned on the afterburners, opening up a sizeable gap over Bagnaia and crossing the finish line well ahead of the chasing pack for his fifth straight podium finish.
Six-times MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez’s struggles at the Sachsenring continued as the Honda rider finished 11th after a couple of mistakes.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Nashik, India; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
