Bagnaia: Sprint win “was impossible”, Martin form “what I expected from him”

The factory Ducati rider was part of a thrilling three-way fight with Martin and Jack Miller during the opening stages of the MotoGP sprint race in Sachsenring, before Martin eventually pulled clear.

A margin of over two seconds separated the two Ducati riders come the end of the 15-lap race, which marked Martin’s second sprint win of the year, and his second in three races.

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Bagnaia remains the most successful rider in MotoGP sprints with three wins, and although the reigning world champion had to settle for P2, he stated that it was one of the more enjoyable Saturdays of the season thus far. 

"It was one of the nicest of the year considering the battle," added Bagnaia. "I really enjoyed it. 

"Today was impossible for me to win. Jorge was too fast and sector two was making the difference. 

"I was just trying to control the gap behind and I was just trying to control the gap behind. In two/three laps I tried to catch back up to Jorge, but I was losing. 

"I have to see where he was doing the difference in that sector and try to understand for tomorrow. I had fun and I’m happy for the result."

Leading the word championship by 21 points heading into yesterday’s sprint, Bagnaia has retained the same margin, however, it’s now Martin who is second in the standings, not Marco Bezzecchi.

Quickly becoming his biggest title rival, Bagnaia said he expected this type of form from the Pramac rider now that they have similar machinery. 

"He’s doing what I expected to see from him. I was sure that with the same bike - last year we had two different kinds of bikes - I know that wasn’t an easy situation but this year I was expecting to see him at the front. 

"He’s doing what I expected and for sure he will improve with all these results. 

"He will be very strong and he worked a lot with the mediums when I worked with the softs. Let’s see, but for sure he will be very competitive."