MotoGP Sachsenring – Marquez is unstoppable

Bruno Gomes

July 16, 2018

Marc Marquez has won again this season and by doing so he achieves a 46-point advantage over Valentino Rossi in the championship. It was his ninth victory in a row at Sachsenring, Germany, a winning streak that extends to the days he was racing in 125 cc in 2010!

At the start of the race, and with Marquez starting from pole position, it was Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Factory) and Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Ducati) who got into the lead, but the MotoGP champion wasted no time, and by lap four Marquez was already moving up the order.

He first passed Petrucci coming into turn 1 of the German track, and then he had to wait another seven laps before he made a move on Lorenzo’s lead. At the final corner Marquez passed the Ducati rider, and from then on the Repsol Honda rider just made sure he wasn’t caught by surprise be anyone else, and secured his 9th straight win in Sachsenring, having now won 40 MotoGP races in his career and 70 podiums.

Behind Marquez, Valentino Rossi charged up the field throughout the race, and cemented his second spot in the championship by beating his teammate Maverick Viñales, who had another poor start and also had to make up for the time he lost in early stages.

As for Hafizh Syahrin (Monster Yamaha Tech3), the Malaysian almost cracked into the Top 10 at the German GP! The Tech3 rookie rider crossed the line nearly 4 seconds behind Bradley Smith (KTM Factory) and beat Andrea Iannone (Ecstar Suzuki) to the line on another demonstration that he is one of the fastest riders around.

“First of all, I want to say thank you very much to my crew, because they made a really good job on my setting. We came back in FP4 after we went a bit in the wrong direction in FP3. I felt like in the beginning of the season and honestly, I think this track is really tricky, but I scored very strong points. I could stay with the group of Johann, but then suddenly the rear tyre had a big drop. I tried to understand and manage as good as possible, this is part of my learning experience. Eleventh was the best I could get at the moment. I tried to come back stronger after some difficult rounds and now we are best rookie again before the summer break. I try to keep my physical condition consistent, try to train hard in the break and don’t lose the focus, because I want the Rookie of the Year title”, said Syahrin.

Hafizh Syahrin is now 16th in the championship, with a total of 22 points.

In Moto2, South-African Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) took his maiden victory in Moto2! Binder showed good pace at the end of last season, getting consecutive podium positions behind Miguel Oliveira, but this season has proven a bit more difficult for Binder to get top spots.

Brad Binder made a move past Joan Mir at lap 10, and even if he wasn’t able to get a comfortable advantage over his pursuers, he still managed to avoid mistakes and looked like he was racing on rails. Joan Mir and Luca Marini couldn’t do anything about it and crossed the finish line in second and third.

In Moto3, Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) took a perfectly-timed win in the Pramac Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, fighting at the front throughout before pulling the pin to perfection in the latter stages to escape the chasing pack. It was Championship rival Marco Bezzecchi (Redox PruestelGP) who crossed the line second in some solid damage limitation to keep close in the standings, with John McPhee (CIP – Green Power) putting some recent disappointments to bed as he got back on the podium with an impressive third.