Moto3: Bagnaia boosted by new Mahindra gearbox

Francesco Bagnaia's chances of repeating his historic Assen Moto3 victory have been boosted by a new Mahindra gearbox for this weekend's German round.

Bagnaia claimed his and Mahindra's first ever grand prix victory in the Dutch event and will get his first chance to race with the upgrade - previously used in testing and the FIM CEV series - at Sachsenring.

"I have had chance to test the new Mahindra gearbox and it worked really well from the first moment," Bagnaia said. "It is a step forward although we still have a bit of work to do."

The Italian - who has had a tough time at the German round in the past, a 13th place during his rookie season being his best result - added:

"The track in Germany is quite difficult for me, personally. The bike this year seems very competitive and even though we struggled last year we could be fast this weekend."

Jorge Mart?n will be back alongside Bagnaia this weekend, having recovered from the triple hand fracture he suffered at Catalunya.