Marquez wins big with tyre gamble in Germany
Even when the situation looked at its worst, Marquez produced magic to take a sensational seventh Sachsenring win.
Conditions had looked to be improving after the Moto2™ World Championship race, but brief showers of heavy rain hit the Sachsenring as MotoGP™ riders waited in the pits. The race was declared wet and flashbacks of the Dutch GP ran through the mind of every rider on the grid. Would it be Miller time again or would Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) finally get to grips with the Sachsenring? When racing got underway there were almost no further signs of rain, making tyre choice more important than ever.
As the race began Andrea Dovizioso (Ducat Team) and Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) emerged as the two favourites. Dovizioso had opened up a lead of almost two seconds as the track began to dry, riders considering a bike change. Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) was the first rider to pit for intermediate tyres on lap 12. Over the course of the following laps most of the field followed suit, choosing a variety of slick and intermediate combinations.
Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was simply unable to match the pace of the leading riders as the race began, battling with Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing) for fifth. He was clearly struggling, running off at Turn 8 and lucky to stay upright. On lap 17 he entered the pits for slicks. It proved a masterstroke as his lap times were immediately four seconds faster than those on wets leading the race, his pace only getting faster. With six laps to go he took the lead and never looked back, going on to take a seventh straight victory at the Sachsenring. His lead at the top of the championship continues to grow, seemingly unable to put a foot wrong.
Lap after lap the track dried and lap after lap Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) got faster and faster. The Brit found himself in fourth on the 19th lap as several riders began to pit, Crutchlow still pushing his wets around. He followed Dovizioso into the pits soon after, re-joining with his former teammate to battle for the podium. Having opted for slicks, Crutchlow found himself right behind Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Yakhnich) and in the hunt for second place. There was no love lost between the Brits, Crutchlow breaking Redding to secure second place and return to the podium for the first time since Argentina in 2015.
Known for his ability in the wet, Andrea Dovizioso shot straight into podium contention as the race began, pressuring for the lead. ‘Desmo Dovi’ sat behind Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Yakhnich) for several laps, gifted the lead when the Italian fell on lap 11. He continued to forge ahead on wets, his lead rapidly depleting. After multiple laps struggling on wets he finally made the call to pit, prompting every rider behind to follow him. The group re-joining to battle for third place, unable to match the pace of Crutchlow the factory Ducati man did well to pass Redding on the final lap and take his second podium of the year.
The disappointment was clear to see on Scott Redding’s face after holding onto third until the very last lap. Fourth is still a great result for the Brit, his second best finish of a year plagued by technical issues. Like Redding, Iannone opted to switch to intermediate tyres and while he made progress, was ruled out of the final podium battle and settled for fifth.
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) took a solid sixth ahead of Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS), the Australian the last to swap tyres.
Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) was strong from the start of the race but waited until Dovizioso and Crutchlow, with whom he was battling with, had pitted for tyres to come in. As a result he came home in eighth, closing in on his teammate in the championship but losing out to Marquez once more.
Jorge Lorenzo’s (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) weekend didn’t get any better. The World Champion was inside the top ten as the race got underway, but as in Assen he began to fade as the race went on and slowly dropped back. It was even worse than in Assen, Lorenzo taking a single point for 15th place.
Danilo Petrucci’s reputation as a wet-weather specialist continued to grow in Germany. ‘Petrux’ was on a mission and quickly took the lead, comfortably sitting at the head of the race. That was until he crashed at Turn 3 on lap 11, he pitted for his second bike just as the one he was on burst into flames. He eventually retired from the race, another disappointing end to a race with so much potential.
Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) crashed while chasing Marquez after pitting for new tyres, ending his run of scoring points in every race.
Local rider Stefan Bradl (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) was forced to miss him home race after a fall in Warm Up. He was taken to the local hospital for a CT scan after suffering a concussion in the crash.
