BRM’s MotoGP photographer, Michael Wincott, gives us the low-down on the last two MotoGP races, with mistakes and magic from the championship leaders. Plus, with the MotoGP series celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the championship, he’s shared with us some epic images of the team’s retro liveries.
Photos: Michael Wincott Photography
Round 9 Germany – Sachsenring 5th – 7th July
The ninth round of the Moto GP championship headed to the Sachsenring in Germany for Round 9. The tight and twisty circuit, which is tightly crammed into a small space, gives the Sachsenring a unique layout and character. The Sachsenring only has three right-hand corners and only provides a small number of places to pass, so making a good start will be pivotal in the sprint race.
Jorge Martin took pole position for the German Grand Prix with a new Sachsenring lap record. The championship title leader was joined on the front row by the Trackhouse duo of Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez who enjoyed their best qualifying results to date. Reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia lost his last flying lap to yellow flags and started in fourth next to Alex Marquez in fifth and Franco Morbidelli in sixth. Eleven-time German Grand Prix winner Marc Marquez, who has never been beaten in a Sunday grand prix at the Sachsenring as a MotoGP rider, started from thirteenth on the grid after being blocked by Stefan Bradl on his last flying lap.
SPRINT RACE
Pole sitter Martin got a bad start in Saturday’s 15-lap German Grand Prix Sprint race and was passed by Bagnaia and Oliveira as the riders piled into turn one for the first time. Martin struck back by overtaking both riders in quick succession; first, he came out of Oliveira’s slipstream going down the straight at the start of lap two to claim second. On lap three he attempted a carbon copy of the move and briefly overtook Bagnaia but subsequently missed his braking point and had to relinquish the position again. However, only a few corners later, Martin made an aggressive move at turn eight that surprised Bagnaia. There was no way back for Bagnaia, who eventually fell behind Oliveira.
Meanwhile, Enea Bastianini had made stealthy progress through the field, he had moved up to fourth from ninth on the grid. The lead quartet consisting of Martin, Oliveira, Bagnaia, and Bastianini had started to pull away from the rest of the field. With five laps remaining Martin dropped the hammer and edged away from the group to clinch his fourth Sprint win of the season and increased his championship lead to 15 points over his main championship rival Bagnaia. Oliveira finished second on his Trackhouse Aprilia, which was his best MotoGP result since winning the 2022 Thai Grand Prix for KTM.
During the remaining laps after seeing his title rival disappear, Bagnaia had to contend with his team-mate Bastianini. Bagnaia managed to stay ahead and take his third successive Sprint podium.
FEATURE RACE
A great start from Martin in Sunday’s 30-lap feature race, he led Oliveira and Bagnaia through the opening turns. Bagnaia made his intentions clear at the end of lap one as he passed Oliveira into the final corner, Bagnaia then pulled the same maneuver on Martin a lap later to claim the lead. By lap five, Alex Marquez had passed Oliveira for fourth while Franco Morbidelli had moved up to third and was the
fastest rider on the track. Martin regained the lead on lap seven when he pulled alongside Bagnaia down the start-finish straight and passed him down the inside into turn one. Martin instantly made a break for it while Bagnaia had to surrender second to Morbidelli. By mid-race Bagnaia had recaught Morbidelli and had passed him to move back into second.
However, it was too late for Bagnaia to re-catch Martin as he had already edged out an advantage at the front. Bagnaia kept Martin honest and the gap was kept consistent at around eight-tenths of a second. Throughout the final laps of the race, Bagnaia had trimmed Martin’s lead to half a second and was pilling on the pressure. The pressure paid off when, on the penultimate lap, Martin lost the front going into turn one and went down. This handed the lead and the win to Bagnaia, who, in turn, retook the championship lead by 10 points as the riders entered the summer break.
The fight for the remaining podium positions went down to the wire, Morbidelli’s pace started to slow during the later laps, which allowed Alex Marquez to catch and pass him on lap 17—with five laps remaining Marc Marquez had also caught and passed Morbidelli at the last corner. Marc Marquez now in third, had his sights set on his brother in second, which he found a way past with one lap remaining. Despite finishing third, Alex Marquez still found himself on the rostrum, courtesy of Martin’s late crash. This made it a double podium for Gresini and the first time a set of brothers had shared a podium since 1997.
Bastianini once again found his late-race pace and finished fourth, ahead of Morbidelli, who finished fifth. Oliveira was sixth ahead of Rookie Pedro Acosta and Marco Bezzecchi.
Championship Standings
1 Francesco Bagnaia, 222pts
2 Jorge Martin, 212pts (-10)
3 Marc Marquez, 166pts (-56)
4 Enea Bastianini, 155pts (-67)
5 Maverick Viñales, 125pts (-97)
6 Pedro Acosta, 110, (-112)
Round 10 England – Silverstone 2nd – 4th August
The British GP marked the 75th anniversary of the MotoGP Championship. During the feature race on Sunday, all the MotoGP teams ran with retro liveries on their bikes to mark the special occasion.
Espargaro claimed pole position for the British Grand Prix with a sensational lap time of 1m57.309 seconds in the dying minutes of the session. Espargaro ended up being 0.208s clear of Bagnaia in second, who was just 0.176 seconds ahead of Bastianini in third. Championship contender Martin could only manage fourth ahead of Alex Marques in fifth and Binder sixth.
SPRINT RACE
The lights went out on the ten-lap sprint race Saturday afternoon, Bagnaia got the holeshot from second on the grid when he had barged his way past polesitter Espargaro before turn one. Bagnaia and Espargaro were both passed by Martin as they entered turn three for the first time. Halfway around the opening lap, Bastianini passed Espargaro and Bagnaia and put himself right behind new race leader Martin in second place. Over the next two laps, Martin and Bastianini ran in close formation, with both Espargaro and Bagnaia in third and fourth positions. Bagnaia looked to catch the leading duo and picked up his pace.
On lap four he set his fastest lap of the race but unfortunately, he lost the front into turn four and fell ground, retiring immediately from the race. With no pressure from behind, Bastianini upped his pace and pressured Martin. He attempted a move into Copse on lap five before running wide, which allowed Martin to go back through. A lap later he made a second attempt to pass Martin into Stowe which stuck. Over the remaining laps, Bastianini pulled away from Martin and won by 1.094 seconds. Martin claimed second and cut the deficit to Bagnaia in the championship to just one point, Espargaro finished third ahead of Binder in fourth and Acosta in fifth.
FEATURE RACE
It was a dream start for Bagnaia in the feature race he shot into the lead ahead of Bastianini while polesitter Espargaro was left hung out to dry and passed by Martin, who slotted into third as the riders entered turn one. By lap two, Bagnaia was already trying to escape at the front, where he had already put some distance between himself and the chasers. An error from Bastianini while trying to keep up with Bagnaia saw him fall behind Martin who got promoted to second. On lap four, Martin had reeled in Bagnaia along with Espargaro who was in third.
While there were no changes in the led group, there was a fight for sixth between Alex Marquez and Di Giannantonio who exchanged punches during lap eight. Di Giannantonio came out on top in the fight, while fighting they had lost touch with the lead group and had allowed Acosta to close in on them.
By mid-race, the led duo of Bagnaia and Martin had pulled away from Espargaro who, on lap eleven, was passed by Bastianini. With eight laps remaining, Martin attacked Bagnaia at turn three and made it stick, while they were both being caught by Bastianini, who was showing once again his late-race pace. With six laps remaining Bagnaia looked in trouble and was under pressure from Bastianini.
Bagnaia went wide at Luffield and Bastianini motored past into second and started charging down Martin. With two laps remaining, it was a shoot-out for the win between Martin and Bastianini who didn’t have to wait too long to take the lead. Martin ran wide going into turn three, and Bastianini took the open invitation and the lead. On the final lap, Bastianini had put distance between himself and Martin, it was a dream double at Silverstone for Bastianini who brought home the win.
Martin settled for second, while Bagnaia had to settle for third. Marc Marques finished fourth ahead of Di Giannantonio in fifth while polesitter Espargaro crossed the line in sixth.
Championship Standings
1 Jorge Martin, 241
2 Francesco Bagnaia, 238 (-3)
3 Enea Bastianini, 192 (-49)
4 Marc Marquez, 179 (-62)
5 Maverick Viñales, 130 (-111)
6 Pedro Acosta, 122 (-119)
