Moto3: Martin wins as Bastianini and Di Giannantonio fall

Jorge Martin took a second consecutive victory from pole position at the Sachsenring, having battled hard for the majority of the race, before breaking away with just a handful of laps remaining.

Martin took the holeshot from pole, getting a perfect start as Marcos Ramirez moved up into second ahead of teammate Jaume Masia, whereas Marco Bezzecchi ploughed his way through the field to take up fourth.

From seventh on the grid the Italian was soon on the tail of Martin and the Spaniard was unable to escape in the early stages. But it was a huge train of riders fighting it out at the front, with the group stretching back outside the points and even the top twenty at some periods.

At turn one at just gone half-distance, Martin and teammate Fabio Di Giannantonio collided, forcing the Italian to crash whilst Martin managed to keep his Gresini Moto3 machine upright. The first and only scare of the race.

With seven to go Martin made a break for it, pulling the pin and timing it to perfection as Bezzecchi struggled to hold on to the Honda man ahead of him. Half a second then six tenths then over a second, the gap kept growing – whilst McPhee hunted down Bezzecchi. Martin crossed the line for the win as Bezzecchi and McPhee dragged it out – and the Italian took it by just half a tenth.

“It’s been a great weekend, one where we had a perfect bike and a strong pace. The idea was to save the tyres for the final leg of the race and then attack,” said a jubilant Martin, who started from a record breaking 15th Moto3 pole.

“I stayed within the group at the beginning and there were some aggressive riders, including Fabio who touched me. I miraculously managed to stay upright and when I saw that Arenas and Rodrigo were getting closer, I decided to push. It’s a great win, but we cannot relax because Bezzecchi is really strong, but we are heading into the break as leaders and that’s the most important thing.”

Martin leads the championship from Marco Bezzecchi by just 7 points, whilst Aron Canet is 3rd, 38 points back from the championship lead.