A sprint winner twice in 2023, including on Saturday at the Sachsenring, Martin hasn’t won a grand prix since the 2021 Styrian GP in his rookie season.
But he ended that drought in brilliant fashion, resisting immense pressure from reigning world champion Bagnaia to beat him in a run to the line by just 0.064 seconds.
It has marked him out as a serious title contender now, as the Spaniard moves to 16 points adrift of Bagnaia.
Bagnaia couldn’t convert pole to the holeshot as KTM’s Jack Miller rocketed through on the run to Turn 1 at the start.
A moment for Miller on the change of direction into Turn 11 sapped his momentum down the hill and allowed Bagnaia to blast into the lead, with the KTM rider slipping back to fourth.
This would be the beginning of Miller’s decline in the grand prix as he ultimately faded to sixth at the chequered flag, 11.9s off the win.
Martin took the lead away from Bagnaia in almost identical fashion to how he did in Saturday’s sprint, nailing his run down the hill out of Turn 11 to scythe past the factory team Ducati into Turn 12.
Source: Autosport