Francesco Bagnaia strikes back in Sachsenring MotoGP warm-up
Defeated by Jorge Martin in the Sprint, Francesco Bagnaia was back on top in warm-up for the German MotoGP.
Stung by Jorge Martin’s ‘smarter’ strategy in Saturday’s Sprint race, reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia struck back by leading morning warm-up for the German MotoGP.
As predicted, temperatures are substantially lower than on Saturday, but conditions were still bright and sunny for the ten-minute warm-up.
Despite snatching the early lead, Bagnaia’s conservative approach to tyre wear saving saw him fall victim to Martin and Miguel Oliveira early in the Sprint.
But Bagnaia didn’t benefit from saving the rear tyre in the closing laps, due to an overheating front tyre in dirty air behind Martin and Oliveira. The Italian thus remained in third place, bringing his five-race win streak to an end.
Martin’s victory also saw the Pramac rider rebuild his title lead to 15 points heading into today’s grand prix, the last before the MotoGP summer break.
Most riders are expected to switch from the soft (in the Sprint) to medium rear tyre for this afternoon’s 30-lap grand prix.
With that in mind, the medium rear was used by all but Johann Zarco and Stefan Bradl this morning, Bagnaia saving his best for last courtesy of a 1m 20.638s on his eighth and final lap.
That put the world champion just 0.080s clear of Martin’s Pramac team-mate Franco Morbidelli, who was fifth in the Sprint, with the Spaniard in a close third (+0.164s).
After Saturday’s decisive early laps, expect some intense battles to reach the front early - and avoid soaring front tyre pressures - this afternoon…
A sore Marc Marquez again swapped between his two Gresini machines early in the session on his way to fourth place, just ahead of brother and team-mate Alex.
Marquez, starting just 13th and nursing a fractured left finger and rib bruising from his Friday highside, will need to pull off a major upset to claim his 12th Sachsenring win this afternoon.
"I feel better than yesterday. I feel a bit more free on the bike, but starting from 13th won't be easy," Marquez said after warm-up.
"I'll try to overtake riders step by step and see where we can arrive. The most important thing is that today my ribs are much better.
"It'll be nearly impossible to finish on the podium, but let's see..."
The equally battered and bruised Maverick Vinales, who lost sixth to Marquez in a photo finish yesterday, was twelfth fastest this morning.
