MISANO ADRIATICO: Jorge Martin claimed a statement victory in Saturday’s sprint race at the San Marino and Rimini Riviera MotoGP, extending his overall lead over reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia with a stunning performance.

Pramac rider Martin is 26 points in front of pole-sitter Bagnaia ahead of the main event Grand Prix on Sunday after charging to an unexpected second sprint win of the season.

The Spaniard, who won at Misano Adriatico last year, started in fourth on the grid but got away like lightning and was ahead of Bagnaia by the first turn.

He comfortably held off Ducati’s Bagnaia for the rest of the 13-lap sprint and crossed the finish line 1.495 seconds in front of his Italian rival, improving his position at the top of the standings.

“Today I expected maybe to be fighting with Pecco (Bagnaia) but I didn’t expect to do that start,” said Martin.

“I even had a gap to keep for the last two laps so super happy. For tomorrow it’s another story but I feel confident that we are in a good way, super good and super fast.”

Martin has not won a GP since the French back in May but his consistency has helped him accumulate a decent advantage as he searches for his first MotoGP title. The 27-year-old had finished second in both the sprint and GP at four of the previous five events and his display on Saturday means he cannot be overtaken in the standings this weekend by Bagnaia, regardless of what happens in Sunday’s race.

It was a big blow for Bagnaia, who was favorite to cut the gap separating him from Martin after claiming pole position with a record-breaking fastest lap at the “Marco Simoncelli” circuit earlier on Saturday.

Two-time champion Bagnaia is riding with injuries to his shoulder, neck and collarbone after crashing out of last weekend’s Aragon MotoGP but looked in great form before Martin left him for dust.

“I’m absolutely not happy ... The start was a disaster, I lost first position and from that moment it was very difficult,” said Bagnaia.

“In any case, second position after what happened last week is OK. We will work to improve the start because it was a disaster and try to be in a better shape tomorrow.”

Bagnaia is at least helped by this weekend being the first of two in a row at the Misano, as the same circuit is being used later in September for the Emilia Romagna GP which replaces the canceled race in Kazakhstan.

Marc Marquez, a double winner at Alcaniz last weekend, had a harder time in Italy and lost ground on Martin, dropping to 77 points off the summit in third after finishing the sprint in sixth place.

Six-time champion Marquez battled up the rankings from his starting position of ninth on the grid, but has been caught on 234 points by Enea Bastianini.

BERLIN: Former Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp said his return to the club’s dugout in Saturday’s testimonial match was “like a school reunion,” nine years after his last match as club coach.
Dortmund bid farewell to team stalwarts Jakub Blaszczykowski and Lukas Piszczek, with each captaining a side featuring several club legends as well as current manager Nuri Sahin.
Blaszczykowski’s side, coached by Klopp, won 5-4 in front of 82,000 fans at a sold out Westfalenstadion.
“It was like a school reunion,” Klopp told Sky Germany, adding “it’s what I always dreamed of: that we’d meet again in life and just have a good time together.
“It’s like coming home. There are so many great memories. It’s nice to see the fans again.”
Klopp spent seven years as Dortmund coach, winning two Bundesliga titles, one German Cup and taking the team to the 2013 Champions League final at Wembley, where they lost to archrivals Bayern Munich.
Klopp, who stepped down as Liverpool boss at the end of last season citing exhaustion, is yet to return to coaching, having said in July “as of today, that’s it for me as a coach.”
The coach poked fun at the aging players, saying “we had a lot of excess weight in attack, midfield and defense today.”
Dortmund also said goodbye to defender Mats Hummels, who left the club for Serie A side Roma in the summer.
Hummels, who played 508 games for Dortmund, was one of only a few current players to take the pitch.
He said afterwards “it’s a mix of joy and sadness.
“I’ve spent a lot of my football life here.”