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Just like in the old days: fans in Saxony celebrated the Bagnaia versus Martin duel

A poor Q2 had robbed Ducati rider Pecco Bagnaia of his chance of a top result in the race. A fierce battle with Jorge Martin for fifth place frustrated the Italian but delighted the fans.

MotoGP

12.07.2026 - 20:08

This article is an automatically generated English version. The original article was published in German.

Pecco Bagnaia wollte Platz 5 von Martin, musste aber zurückstecken
© Gold and Goose

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From major doubts to a major spectacle: why GP fans have reason to be delighted

Before the start of the season, critical voices dominated, but the World Championship rounds so far have shown that the rule changes are delivering exactly what was hoped for: excitement right up to the final lap.

Sunday’s race at the Sachsenring offered little in the way of excitement at the front of the field. Although Ai Ogura overtook his team-mate Raul Fernandez to take second place with just a few laps to go – and with it second place in the World Championship standings – the most thrilling battle was the one for fifth place. It was led by World Championship leader Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia.

It was a repeat of the battles that had been fought for the World Championship title in 2023 and 2024. The Spaniard is once again in contention for the MotoGP World Championship this year, but Francesco Bagnaia is only eighth in the World Championship standings ahead of the summer break. This did not detract from the entertainment value of the battle for position between the two rivals at the Sachsenring, even if it wasn’t enough for them to swap places. The Ducati rider commented after the race: “I tried to overtake him on one lap at Turn 11, but that was the corner where Jorge was faster than me. I wasn’t close enough in that situation to make a move; it was too difficult.”

Both riders went into the duel with their own challenges. Bagnaia: “Jorge had problems with the front tyre and I had problems with the rear. That evened out our lap times.” Out of caution, the Italian held back during his only overtaking attempt: “I’ve learnt from my past mistakes: finishing the race comes first; a crash is never a good idea. I tried everything I could at other points, but never got close enough.” The risk of throwing away valuable points through a crash was too high. The man with number 63 would only have taken a gamble for a win: “You pick up the most points between second and first place. So taking a big risk is only worth it for a win.”

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A result that was a long way off for the man with number 63 at the Sachsenring. The German Grand Prix weekend had been a difficult one for the Turin native, making sixth place the lesser of two evils: “When I think about how many problems I’ve had on this circuit this year, sixth place on Sunday and seventh in the sprint race are brilliant results,” said the 2024 winner.

Topic of the week

From major doubts to a major spectacle: why GP fans have reason to be delighted

As a former two-time MotoGP world champion, the Turin native nevertheless knows how riders feel when the battle for the premier class crown comes to a head, as it did this weekend: ahead of the summer break, the top five in the world championship standings are separated by just 24 points. Due to race suspensions and an injury lay-off, Marco Bezzecchi – who had recently been the undisputed leader – has plummeted to fourth place overall following the MotoGP weekend at the Sachsenring, whilst Jorge Martin was a long way off the podium and could only see the Trackhouse Team’s customer Aprilias from behind. Instead, his pursuers Ai Ogura and Marco Marquez closed the gap at breakneck speed. For Bagnaia, this is no sign of weakness among his rivals: “Everyone wants the World Championship and every rider is giving it their all. Several riders and several bikes are performing at a high level. The difference is that Ducati is no longer as dominant.”

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