HOHENSTEIN-ERNSTTHAL, Germany :Marc Marquez proved once again why he is known as the ‘King of Sachsenring’ when the Ducati rider marked his 200th MotoGP start by winning the German Grand Prix on Sunday in a race that became a test of survival after only 10 riders finished.
Marquez’s ninth MotoGP victory at the Sachsenring stretched his championship lead over brother Alex, who finished second, to 83 points while Marc’s teammate Francesco Bagnaia finished third to sit 147 points behind.
Alex had started fifth on the grid and took second in his 100th MotoGP start despite still recovering from a fractured hand he suffered at the Dutch Grand Prix two weeks ago which required surgery.
Several riders crashed over the course of the race, especially at turn one – including VR46 Racing’s Fabio Di Giannantonio and Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi when they were in second place.
But the day belonged to Marc as he marked his latest triumph at his favourite hunting ground by standing on his bike and doing a jig as he passed the chequered flag – a fourth straight weekend where he had won both the sprint and the race.
“One more (win at the Sachsenring) was super special. From the beginning, I felt good, the confidence when I started the weekend was super high because we were coming from three victories in a row,” Marc said.
“We are in an incredible moment. Now we can say that half the season is done. Now (the second) half we still need to be super concentrated.”
Marc had clinched his seventh pole position of the season on Saturday before winning a wet sprint despite a mistake at the first turn, but this time he had the dream start to take the lead into turn one ahead of Bezzecchi and Di Giannantonio.
As Marc slowly but surely started to stretch his lead, he was unaware of the battles for position behind him as Bezzecchi and Di Giannantonio swapped places while Alex and Pedro Acosta fought for fourth place on the sweeping corners.
COMFORTABLE RHYTHM
Acosta became the third rider to crash early on after Lorenzo Savadori and Miguel Oliveira, with the young Spaniard gesturing at his fallen machine in frustration.
Di Giannantonio had broken the lap record in Friday’s practice and given Marc a tough time early in the sprint.
But the Italian was unable to push any harder to catch up to Marc, who found a comfortable rhythm and pace to surge more than two seconds ahead despite easing off the throttle on two laps to conserve his tyres.
As Marc’s lead stretched to more than three seconds, Di Giannantonio’s challenge came to an end on the downhill braking zone on turn one when he lost control and crashed, with his bike tumbling across the gravel while he escaped unhurt.
LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco, who started second on the grid before getting pushed down the order, crashed at the same turn seconds later.
Bezzecchi had moved up to second but the Aprilia rider also bit the dust on the very next lap at turn one, moving Alex up to second while Bagnaia suddenly found himself in the podium positions.
“I tried to give my 100 per cent. Also, I was a little bit lucky because (riders) sliding in front of me crashed. But this is racing, so you need to be there,” said Alex, holding an ice pack on his left hand.
“Today, it was important to survive… So I’m really, really happy. It’s unbelievable to be here (after surgery).”
The crashes did not end there as Trackhouse Racing’s Ai Ogura lost his balance on turn one and ended up taking out Honda’s Joan Mir in the process, leaving only 10 of the 18 starters.
Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo finished fourth ahead of Alex’s Gresini Racing teammate Fermin Aldeguer.
